A New Tangled Tale
by Robina Snyder
Summary: What happens after "The End", but before "Happily Ever After"? After Rapunzel disappeared a new heir was selected. Now he is planning to overthrow Rapunzel before she's even had time to prove herself. A more realistic look at Tangled.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Yeah, new story! This is one of the best fanfics I've ever written.

It's based on the idea that 1) Gothel would have really messed up Rapunzel and she'd need time to heal and get used to people and 2) that it's highly unlikely that there wouldn't be someone selected to be the heir incase Rapunzel isn't found.

This story is a bit O/C heavy because… frankly, there's no other way to write it. None of the courtiers are given names or speaking parts. It's good, so just roll with it. You'll enjoy it, I assure you, or your money back.

PS: You can find more information and faster updates on my DeviantArt (linked in profile).

Enjoy!

* * *

A New Tangled Tale

Prince Frederick chewed his bottom lip. It wasn't that he was angry that the lost princess had been found. His cousin was pretty, charming, and a good icon of their country… as a princess. But that was just it. They didn't plan to keep her as a princess. She was the heir apparent. The lost Princess, Rapunzel, and that ex-thief were going to the rulers of _his_ country.

To be sure the girl was charming, and pretty enough, he'd marry her if they allowed him. His Aunt and Uncle were too overjoyed to have their _l__ost princess _back to even consider separating her from the man she was in love with. Rapunzel would surely leave if her parents tried to separate her from her thief. The monarchs were more than happy to let the 'man with fine upstanding character who saved our daughter's life' have her hand in marriage, once she finally said yes.

It was enough to make Prince Frederick grind his teeth in frustration. His aunt Catherine, the Queen, had been made barren from the sickness. The sun flower had saved her life, but once Rapunzel was born the Queen was no longer able to give birth. That would have been fine… well not fine, it would have been acceptable, if the heir apparent hadn't been taken away only a few days after their birth. After a few years when it was clear that they were not going to find the princess, and that the Queen was unable to conceive a new heir he had been brought in.

Frederick had only been two when the princess was born and only four when his mother had brought him to the palace to live. He was the closest relative to the King, and he had been named the new heir. Frederick had spent his entire life being raised to be king. He'd been trained in etiquette, military strategy, history, philosophy, geography, mathematics, languages (he could speak four of them). He knew how to tell the difference between a Lord and a Duke. He knew how to act at state function. He'd been trained as a knight as the king had been. Frederick had been preparing to be a noble since he was born, preparing to be king since he was four. He was now twenty. Sixteen long years of work wasted at the return of the princess.

He didn't hate the girl; she was cute, she had a certain way about her which would be great for social functions once she learned which spoon to use when. She would be a great asset to the kingdom, but not as a ruler. She would win people's hearts; their own peoples as well as any foreigner nobles who came to visit, but she would not know how to deal with the hard politics, the hard decisions of when to go to war and how many troops to send, how to handle political prisoners. She didn't understand the mathematics behind calculating the amount of food it would take to feed a starving village in a time of famine matched up with how much debt the kingdom could go into. He suspected the princess wouldn't even understand that the cheapest food might not always be the best depending on what country they had to buy from.

So how was it that a girl who had only ever read three books, who's aptitude was in art and astronomy, who until recently had been locked in a tower with no contact with the outside world or anyone was named to be the next ruler of the kingdom?

Prince Frederick was not an evil man. He wasn't a bad guy. He resented his hard work being for nothing, but he loved the kingdom he'd been raised in. The _lost princess_ could be a symbol of national pride, with the right person as king the country would have both a symbol of national pride and someone who knew how to deal with the politics of royalty. Frederick would have preferred if his cousin was going to marry even a man from a foreign nation, because that person would probably have been raised royal, been raised to take care of his vassals. Instead Rapunzel had fallen in love with a thief.

Flynn Rider, nee Eugene Fitzherbert, wasn't a stupid man… mostly. He had his charms, he was very charming, and he was surprisingly good at dealing with the underbelly of society. This could be very useful for a kingship, to have such a man around. Rider was resourceful, brave and strong, he could be an asset to the kingdom. In reality Prince Frederick would have had no problem with his royal cousin marrying the thief if she wasn't going to be Queen. In a way he may not have even had trouble with his royal cousin marrying the thief if the world wise thief was going to have some power over his wife.

Should Rider and the princess marry the thief would not become king. No one who married Rapunzel would become king, only Queen's Consort. Rapunzel would be the soul ruler of their kingdom. She was it, the girl who'd been locked away from the world, who had very few experiences with people, who had no understanding of the intricacies of running a kingdom or dealing with foreign dignitaries. She was going to be the Queen, the only ruler of this kingdom that Prince Frederick loved so much. That, that one fact was that one that the prince could not, would not stand for.

* * *

"Eugene, what do you think?" Rapunzel asked, showing her beloved the hat the town's sale's woman was trying to sell to her. She would self consciously run her fingers through her now very short brown hair to the point that Eugene had told her to just buy a hat so she wouldn't feel so tempted to bother her hair. She suspected that he hadn't been serious, but she'd acted as if he had been, and had used the excuse to drag him out of the palace to go be with people.

After the weeklong celebration (that Eugene had mostly spent drunk) for her return, life had settled into some semblance of routine. It wasn't routine like she'd experienced of living in the tower, trying desperately to fill each hour with something to do so she wouldn't go insane fro boredom. It was often in her new life that she'd fall asleep as soon as she dropped into bed because there was so much to do now that she couldn't pack it all into each day. Yet there was a routine. One day a week was devoted to teaching her a religion she'd never been raised in, knew nothing about, but most of the kingdom practiced. One day a week was spent exclusively with her parents, learning how to get along with a mother who didn't belittle her and a father. The other five days involved three meals, lessons, lessons, and more lessons. Everything really came down to being a lesson now.

While living in her tower Rapunzel had never realized how much of the world there really was. She was an exceptional painter and artist, and she was a very talented singer. The palace astronomer was very pleased to find out how easily she picked up his subject. She'd traced the stars from her window since she was a little girl. She'd taught herself astronomy, and had been fascinated to learn that not only was there a whole subject devoted to the stars and how they moved, but that many star clusters had names from stories she'd never heard about from places she never knew existed. After astronomy she'd come to love history, which allowed her to read many, many, many books and hear many knew stories. She also had come to love geography.

From her life in the tower she'd already learned 'the maidenly arts' of sewing, cooking, and the like, so much so that her mother said that she didn't need lessons on those, which was good because she had so many other lessons. She already knew how to speak and read, but she'd never known there were so many complicated things involved in writing letters and stories. She had to learn grammar as well as learn how to read and analyze 'classics' that she was expected to know already. She was also expected to speak more than one language, which was impossible since she, according to her grammar teacher, didn't even know her own language. Don't even get her started on mathematics.

Outside of academic lessons there was dancing, horseback riding, and whatever all other nobles who weren't locked in towers had been taught from birth. Rapunzel took on anything she didn't know as a lesson, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She enjoyed learning, especially because there was so much to learn. A couple times a week she would leave the palace to see the town's people. Even if she didn't go out of the palace there were so many people in the palace that she got to work on her hardest lesson: overcoming Gothel's horror stories of people.

Rapunzel firmly refused to believe that the world was a bad place, and people like her thug friend and Eugene assured her that there were good people even if outward appearances suggested otherwise… but that didn't mean that she still didn't suffer from having heard so many of Gothel's stories. She got along with people fairly easily, and really did like being around people. They made her feel happy, but there were still times when the idea of leaving her new bedroom to see people who she wasn't friendly with frightened her. At the moment the only people who knew about her 'little problem' were Eugene and Pascal.

Rapunzel had been starring at her reflection in the mirror, completely lost in thought until she felt fingers touching her head. She had one panic moment in her gut where she wished desperately for a frying pan. Then she saw in the mirror that it was only Eugene pulling the hat off her head. "This isn't the hat you want to buy," he said.

He looked through the hats the lady was selling. It wasn't like they couldn't afford to buy the whole stand, but neither he nor Rapunzel were really used to simply buying anything that they wanted… to be clear Rapunzel wasn't used to buying anything, and he was still used to a certain amount of poverty. He had trouble getting out of the mindset of only buying what was necessary or what he really wanted. He had a lot of money with him, he could buy Rapunzel a couple of hats but he wasn't going to buy more than one. He also kept his hand near his money pouch. Even with Maximus have basically gotten rid of crime in the city the ex-Flynn Rider couldn't get rid of the feeling that he was an easy target for a pick pocket with all the cash he had on him that that moment.

"Here, this one," he said, finding one with a wide brim and a cloth daisy stitched onto a purple ribbon around the hat. The hat itself was Rapunzel's favorite shade of lavender. The color alone would make the hat expensive, purple was an expensive dye. It wasn't a very practical indoors hat either, but Eugene thought it would make Rapunzel the happiest. The look on her face when she saw the reflection of her with the hat on confirmed his thoughts. "We'll take it," Eugene said, paying for the hat.

He was right, it had been expensive; but even without having so many coins in his purse he still would have bought it for her. Rapunzel was a big bundle of bubbly, emotional, feisty girl that he could hardly say no to. All she had to do was smile, or cry, or sigh, or laugh, or look at him, or not look at him, or really nothing and he folded like a sheet of parchment. He had no idea what he could be doing if Rapunzel hadn't been the lost princess. He wouldn't want her to go without anything. He didn't really get the feeling that she disapproved of his stealing, except that it hurt other people. He wondered if he would have gone straight for her, gotten a real job.

It wasn't exactly like he'd gone straight when he'd moved into the palace. He didn't steal anymore, but King William had a very specific use for the skills of Flynn Rider, one that Eugene wasn't exactly sure Rapunzel would exactly approve of. As far as Eugene was concerned, he wanted to keep her in the dark as much as possible about his new job.

* * *

The couple spent another hour in town looking around, speaking to people, eating food bought from a few different vendors (including grabbing some of the ever increasingly rare apples), and generally enjoying themselves before heading back to the palace. When they returned they would go their separate ways, as Eugene needed to go back to work and Rapunzel needed to study. They'd see each other at dinner and then at etiquette lessons, since both of them lacked the ability to actually appear at court at the moment.

Once in the main entrance of the palace Eugene looked around to check if anyone was watching before kissing his beloved on the nose. It made her giggle, which he liked. The moment didn't last long, though as an annoying voice rose to great them.

"Rider, would you mind not molesting my cousin in public?" Prince Frederick asked.

"Oh Frederick he wasn't-" Rapunzel started, but Frederick smiled and hugged his cousin.

"Don't worry, I'm only teasing my little parsnip," the prince said before kissing his cousin's cheek. Both Rapunzel and Eugene had met Prince Frederick at approximately the same time during the weeklong celebration. Frederick had cut in on one of the new couple's dances. Eugene had trouble remembering much else. He knew that Frederick had been the heir before Rapunzel was found and had watched the prince very closely in the first few weeks after the celebration, but the prince didn't seem to show Rapunzel any ill will. In fact if Eugene didn't know any better he'd swear that Frederick spent half of his time with Rapunzel flirting. When he'd brought this up to Rapunzel she'd pointed out that he felt that way about all the men who were around her, which was true, but he didn't feel that made any of it less true.

"My, what a lovely hat cousin, did you pick it?" the prince asked making Rapunzel grin.

"No, Eugene picked it," Rapunzel said.

"In that case throw it out, it looks ghastly," the prince said overly dramatically making Rapunzel giggle and Eugene scowl.

"But I like it so much!" Rapunzel said, playing along with her cousin's game.

"Well, I suppose if I cannot fix your extreme lack of taste then I shall just have to allow you to wear it, so long as it makes you happy and you know it makes you look silly." This made Rapunzel giggle more. Eugene tried not to scowl more. He knew it was only a game, but he couldn't shake the feeling that later Rapunzel would look at the hat and think that it did make her look silly, and that she might even set it aside because of what her new cousin said.

"Oh my look at the time!" Rapunzel said. "I have to go, I need time to try and get through i_Othello/i_," the princess said. She'd recently been having a very hard time getting through the plays her English instructor had been assigning her, especially if they'd been assigned by Shakespeare.

"I can help you with that, _Othello'_s one of my favorite plays," Prince Frederick said with a kind smile. "It can be daunting if you're having trouble getting through the older English and the rhyme scheme," he admitted. The prince glanced over his shoulder at Eugene, and he was trying to lead the princess off to go study. "Don't you have a job to do Rider?" he asked.

"Bye Eugene, don't be late!" Rapunzel called, turning back to look at him and wave before turning back to walk down to get her books and go study with her cousin. Eugene turned to go do his job, but not before noticing Rapunzel taking off her hat. He kept telling himself that it was simply because that was not an indoor hat, and not because Frederick had planted that seed inside Rapunzel's head.


	2. Chapter 2

Flynn Rider glanced out his window, letting a warm breeze waft through and brush against his face. It was just a little too warm today. He couldn't tell if it was worse to be inside or outside. He knew one thing for sure the breeze kept distracting him. It would wake him up just enough to convince him that he could keep day dreaming for a second before getting back to work… but once the breeze was gone he was left with no energy to continue working. He really needed to be working.

His childhood dreams had involved fun all the time, riding all over, lots of adventure. To be sure he'd had a lot of adventure as a thief. It wasn't like he still have adventure… just of a different variety. Watching Rapunzel discover the world was like discovering the world all over again, except this time it wasn't though the eyes of an orphan, or of a young man trying to get enough money for food.

He enjoyed his life, always had since he became Flynn Rider… which was the problem. He felt, to a certain extent, schizophrenic. Around Rapunzel and Queen Catherine and basically all the towns people he was Eugene Fitzherbert, the ex-criminal who had returned the lost princess, and was now courting said princess. It was different for his job.

All kids dream about being in charge, but being in charge was difficult. Probably the hardest job in the kingdom had to be being the king. The king never got a break, he always had to think about his subjects, how the market was doing, what foreign diplomats would think, what the servants (who were terrible gossipers) would think, how his actions would affect everyone else. It seemed like exhausting work, far too exhausting for someone as laid back as Flynn was. The worst part, he supposed, was that the king was always the king. Even in his new job Flynn could stop working and go do something else. Being king was the job, one you could never stop doing. Flynn was thankful that _if_ Rapunzel ever agreed to marry him that he wouldn't have the job of being king. When the queen was sick the king wasn't allowed to go searching for the sun flower like everyone else. When Rapunzel had been kidnapped the king had never been allowed out to search. He simply had to sit around and wait for people to come back and tell him that they couldn't find her. That there were many things the king couldn't do had simply never occurred to Flynn Rider.

Something else came with the kingship that Flynn never expected, or at least never thought about, spies. There were spies for everything, with the spy motto being that you could never have too much information. In theory that seemed fine, but that meant putting one's self in impressively dangerous situations, constantly lying, and the understanding that not even your own companions may be trust worthy. Spies were part of the underbelly of the kingdom and of politics, and knowing what he now knew Flynn was glad that he hadn't known it all before. The king had an incredibly competent spy network to the point that Flynn wondered why he hadn't been caught when capturing the crown, and why Rapunzel had never been found.

The answer was actually pretty shocking, lack of number and connections. Not that more people would have helped the lost princess case, but it definitely would have helped bring him in faster. This lack of people was one of the reasons why the king had been accepting of him. Flynn Rider was a thief, not the best thief, but he had a reputation and he had connections. News was that a young man names Eugene Fitzherbert had found the lost princess, not Flynn Rider. This had been very intentional. Flynn Rider was a member of the underbelly of society. While Maximus was doing great at cleaning up crime in the kingdom there would still always be _that_ type. The type that liked the dishonest life were more or less perfect for spies because they were the same all over, and they didn't always stay in just one kingdom. Flynn hadn't gone away just yet, he was still in training, and training the men of the Snuggly Duckling (some of whom were more than happy to work as spies, especially if that included royal pardons for past deeds).

The persona of Flynn Rider was part of why the king had accepted him. The king, after the week of celebration, pulled Flynn aside one day to talk with him. The king made it very clear that he would not accept a thief marrying his daughter and offered Flynn another position instead: protecting his daughter. The king understood what Flynn understood: Rapunzel was a beautiful girl, who excelled with people and learning, but who may not be able to deal with the grittier side of leading. Flynn had dealt with the grit of life, and both he and the king were not willing to introduce Rapunzel to that part of life, especially not after she'd just returned. Instead Flynn was happy to take on that part of the job.

The king, of course, was not the kingdom's spy master, and Flynn probably wouldn't be either. There were just certain things you couldn't have too close to the throne. Instead the king, in a sometimes desperate need to do something good and constructive in days that seemed anything but, had learned the different spy ciphers, and would decode messages, not all messages, but enough that he was fairly well in the loop.

This would not be Flynn's area of expertise. The king was a scholar, and Flynn Rider, while knowing his letters and numbers just fine, was very much not. Instead the thief had a very particular type of skill, the ability to size up things. Thieves often didn't work alone, and even if they did they needed to be able to read people. In order to pull big jobs they also needed to be able to read situations, buildings, and landscapes; as well as desperately needing to know how to think on their feet. Flynn's particular set of skills made him good for helping to select people who they could train, as well as work in a very different field, war tactics.

War tactics were not Flynn's greatest area of expertise, in fact that was probably his hardest area of study, but it was necessary because if not him, then Rapunzel would need to learn. The king accepted Flynn on the condition that he would protect Rapunzel. Flynn was willing to protect his beloved, especially in a capacity that not many others would ever be able to achieve. He would be very close and personal with her, and, should anyone get past the guards, would serve as the last line of defense, and would therefore need to be the best line of defense. It was his job to be sure that the lost princess would never be lost again.

* * *

The days of the week came and went and before she knew where the time had gone it was Saturday again. Rapunzel had an odd love/hate relationship with Saturdays. They were the day when she would spend time almost completely and exclusively alone with her parents. For the most part she enjoyed these days, but she spent the entire week psyching herself up for that one day.

On Sunday she would be sure that next Saturday would be great. On Monday she would feel a little nervous, but go about her day. On Tuesday she would start imagining how things could become awkward, but she'd push those images to the back of her mind. On Wednesday she would start to feel nervous as they images of awkwardness started to become images of bad things happening. On Thursday those images would get harder to ignore and she'd have to start talking herself into believing the fact that her parents really did like her and weren't simply pretending to love her like Gothel had. On Friday she'd be wishing that she started the self-pep talks days earlier and vowing to start earlier next week. On Saturday morning before she spent time with her parents she'd be so nervous she wouldn't be able to eat (which was why Eugene had suggested starting that day with breakfast with her parents.)

Once she spoke to her parents all her nerves would quickly disappear, but somehow the long weekly wait for that day simply blew her fears out of proportion. Eugene had suggested trying to spend more time with them during the week. It wasn't like she didn't try, and she did get more one on one time with her parents during the week, but all of their schedules were very busy, and it was simply impossible to spend a lot of time all together at any other point in the week.

She wanted to spend time with her parents, but one thing had become painfully clear to all of them, no matter how much time they spend together now it couldn't make up for the time lost already. Sometimes she could see it in her father's eyes. Sometimes he'd say something and then his eyes would get all distant as if he were day dreaming. She knew what it was about. Her father never got a chance to read bedtime stories to her, and marvel at her first steps, or carry her around, or sing children's songs with her. He had her few days, and then the next time he saw he again she was already an adult.

It wasn't like she didn't still need them. After losing Gothel, who'd lied to her for her entire life, Rapunzel desperately needed the assurance that she did have parents who really and truly loved her. Yet her parents had lost out on so much of her life, and since her mother had been unable to have any children after her they never got to experience the actual raising of a child. While they wouldn't have been able to spend as much time with her as a family who wasn't kept busy by royal schedules she could still tell that they keenly felt that loss. All three of them had already had that conversation anyway.

Saturdays were an odd day. They seemed to lack the structure of the other days of the week, but the always ended the same way. At the end of the day all three of them would sit together with a cup of something warm and Rapunzel's father would read to her. They were normally children's stories, as Rapunzel had missed most of them growing up, as still found wonder in the magic of the tales, but sometimes they were histories or older fantasies. Her father had a great voice for speeches and proclamations, but he also had a great voice for storytelling. Religion lessons which seemed horrible or boring on Sunday would come alive on Saturday. Her father explained in great detail about the battles in their religious texts, and how the trials of those heroes brought them through.

It had amazed Rapunzel because not all of that detail seemed to be in the religious texts she'd read until her father explained that he'd wanted to be a priest before his elder brother died and left him the throne. Rapunzel worked very hard to learn on Sundays because of those Saturday nights. She wanted to have some kind of connection to her father.

In a way it was easier to connect with her mother because of Gothel… at least she'd had a mother before. She'd never had a father. When she'd asked Gothel about her father, Mother Gothel would tell a sad tale about how her father had tried to kill Gothel, especially when she tried to get Rapunzel away from him. According to Gothel, Rapunzel's father had wanted to sell the girl, especially with the abilities of her magic hair. The story had worked on many levels, adding to Rapunzel's fear of the outside, as well as making her not want to go outside that much. That story also affected Rapunzel's relationship with her father.

King William was a kind man, one who loved his daughter very much and wanted her to love him back; but Rapunzel still wasn't completely comfortable with him. She wanted to love him, and easily accepted the love he offered her, but she still had a hard time getting Gothel's words out of her head. It was those Saturday nights though, when she'd sit by her father's chair, or sit in his lap and wrap her arms around his neck and listen to the stories he'd tell that made her feel… safe, as if she would be able to forget the stories Gothel had told. Of all the days of the week, and of all the times of the day, Rapunzel liked Saturday nights best.


	3. Chapter 3

Rapunzel starred down at her bare feet. She didn't wear shoes much, even at the palace or out in town. Her mother tried to get her interested in shoes but it just wasn't happening. She wore shoes for dance practice because according to her dance instructor when there were social events she'd need to dance with shoes on. She got along really well with her dance instructor. She'd learned ballet when she was younger, Gothel had taught her. She didn't know any ballroom dances, or really any dance that involved a partner, but she was more than willing to learn.

There was an event tonight, but neither she, nor Eugene was attending. None of their instructors would give them the okay to be presented formally to the court. There were social functions fairly often, but there was a big ball every month, the largest one coming during the 12 day festival in winter. She was told that if she kept up with her studied in etiquette, and survived a trial event, that she would be allowed to attend the large event in winter.

She didn't mind missing the event too much. Her parents and her cousin were at the event, which left time for her and Eugene to be alone. They didn't get to be alone very often anymore. Normally at least someone was around to chaperone and they hadn't had time to see each other alone since their trip back to the palace after she discovered she was the princess.

She looked back at her feet and shivered a little. It was cold in her room in the evenings. She was in her long night gown, but her feet were cold. She glanced over to where Eugene had left his boots when he went to get her a blanket. They were in her suit of rooms. She was in the study where the chairs were, sitting on the rug, and he was in her room grabbing a blanket off her bed.

"Here you go princess," Eugene said suddenly, throwing the blanket over both of them as he settled back in next to her. She grinned and slipped her legs into his lap before tucking herself against his side. She felt his warm arm slip around her.

"Thank Eugene," Rapunzel said; resting her cheek against her beloved's shoulder.

"Are you sorry you can't go?" Eugene asked.

"To the party… a little, but there are others, and I don't want to embarrass my parents. Besides, it's too many strangers," she responded.

"Are you afraid they might have sharp pointy teeth?" Eugene teased.

"That's not funny Eugene," Rapunzel huffed, shifting just enough to glare at him sideways before settling back to where she had been before. "Tell me a story," she said, not wanting to argue with him.

"What kind of story?" he asked.

"I don't know… you told me that your favorite book was about Flynn Rider, why don't you tell me one of those," she suggested, smiling at the idea.

"Oh, I don't have the book," Eugene said.

"Well, you read it a lot didn't you? You should remember the stories enough to tell me," she insisted, thinking he was just trying to weasel out of telling her, that maybe he was embarrassed.

"Okay… I do remember…" he admitted.

"So, tell me," Rapunzel insisted.

"Alright," Eugene said with a heavy sigh. "Once there was a man named Flynn Rider. He was rich, and handsome, and was really popular with the girls. One day he decided to buy a giant squid. You see he'd seen this tank at the market; well it wasn't the market near his home but one in a place far away. Rider liked to travel a lot. He didn't stay home much. Anyway, he saw this giant squid monster. It was pink; did I mention it was pink? Anyway, so he saw this squid… do you know what a squid is? A squid is this sea animal that has a lot of really long arms. Anyway, so he saw this squid-"

"Eugene, this isn't a very good story," Rapunzel interrupted, since she was having trouble following it.

"No, it's a really good story; I'm just bad at telling it. I'm better at reading to people then telling stories," he said. "What?" he asked, sounding incredulous as Rapunzel had started to laugh.

"Oh, nothing, I just thought it was funny that you're really good at lying but you can't tell a good story," the princess said, still giggling.

"Yeah yeah yeah, laugh it up," Eugene said, rolling his eyes. "Do you want me to try telling a different story?"

Rapunzel laughed again. "No, you'll only mangle it. Father got me a book of fairly tales, how about you read to me from it," she said, pointing to a big leather bound book sitting on her desk.

Eugene let out a heavy sigh and got up, going and retrieving the book before returning to his princess. She cuddled up to him again like before, throwing her legs in his lap once more. He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. He opened the book across both of their laps and began to read from the first story.

"Once upon a time there was a little village girl, the prettiest you have ever seen. Her mother loved her dearly, as did her grandmother. She had made her a little red hood which suited her so well that everyone called her Little Red Riding Hood…" Eugene began reading.

Frankly he was glad for the distraction. They were all alone, in a room, unsupervised, where they would remain un-chaperoned for hours. Eugene had taken on the persona of Flynn Rider, a rich adventurer with a taste for the ladies. To say that Eugene hadn't had his fair share of women would be a lie. That wasn't a problem, not really, but the king had made it painfully clear that if Eugene ever even attempted to sleep with Rapunzel before the two were married then Eugene would face the gallows once more, and this time he wouldn't escape his sentence.

Eugene didn't mind this proclamation that much. He did mind, but Rapunzel was frightening. She was so innocent sometimes he felt like he was dealing with a little girl. At those times all his bedtime fantasies about her made him feel like a pedophile. The worst part was that Rapunzel seemed to have no idea what she did to him.

She was so close to him. He could feel her bosom pressed against his side in a way that made him sure she was wearing any type of under clothing. She had her legs draped over his lap in a way that made him wish he could push her nightgown up a little higher. Yet she trusted him so completely. She didn't see any threat in him.

He knew that Gothel had used and mentally abused the princess. He had no idea what the old woman had told Rapunzel about sex, if she'd told her anything at all. Eugene suspected that Gothel had told Rapunzel horror stories about sex like Gothel told her horror stories about everything else. In any case he was too afraid of Rapunzel's reaction to be any more forward than kisses.

Rapunzel was important to him. She wasn't a back alley girl he could simply pick up than drop. She was special to him. Her rejection scared him more than the noose, so he would be very careful when it came to the subject of sex around her. For now he'd read her stories, play games with her, and spend a mostly innocent night alone with the girl he loved the most.

* * *

Lady Lephia had her eyes on Prince Frederick since she'd first met the prince. He was everything she had ever wanted and her mother had ever wanted for her. He was tall, dark and handsome. His hair was a darker shade of brown than his aunt and uncle. His eyes were also brown, a very dark shade. They were normal, comfortable to look at, calming. Lephia loved his eyes; they were her favorite feature in a man. She just wanted to stare into his eyes all the time. Yet he was far above her. As the future king he was unreachable… but as a prince… as just a prince he was suddenly attainable.

She found herself flirting her way over toward him. She felt like she was floating, finally she could reach him. Then she was standing in front of him. It was like a fairy tale… he was asking her to dance. She was a lovely creature. Her hair was a really dirty blonde to the point that it seemed more like brown with a bit of gold color here and there. Her eyes were blue. She didn't like her eyes though. She wanted pretty brown eyes like Prince Frederick's.

"You're starring," the prince said, and it made her blush.

"I'm sorry… I just couldn't stop starring at your eyes," she admitted. "I like brown eyes the most," she said, being her normally overly truthful self. She could be very blunt generally, but when she felt shy her bluntness toned down.

"Most people wouldn't admit that," the prince said as he spun her. "I've seen you around before. How come you haven't approached me before?" he asked, smiling in a charming manner that made her face heat up even more.

"I'm a lesser noble, highness," she said honestly. "I've always liked you… but you were the crown prince before, and I was too far separated. I didn't have a chance and I didn't want to get my hopes up," she said softly. The dance continued but the prince said nothing for the longest time. "Have I insulted you highness? I tend to do that," she asked him.

The prince smiled slight and shook his head. "No, quite the opposite. I'm more curious about you than before," he said. "Do you always think about politics?"

"Well, I try, I mean I'm supposed to right? Everyone hear acts because of politics. Most try to use it to their advantage, but that's not what it's for. It's to help get what your people need by trying to win people to your side," Lady Lephia said. "That sounds silly, doesn't it?" she asked.

The prince shook his head a very small bit. She could see the shake, but not many other people would. That told her this was a private conversation. "No, I agree with you. It's why I don't like the normal girls who flirt hoping that I'll think they're pretty enough to marry." He said bluntly, making Lephia grin. "What do you think of your relationship with your vassals?" he asked, feeling like he was on to something.

"Oh, are you testing me?" she asked with a smile, feeling more relaxed. She sensed he wouldn't judge her for her opinion. "As a noble it's my job to serve my people. They serve me so that I may better serve them. We're not a very rich land, but we're important for military location. My elder brother renounced his titles and joined the army, and my younger brother will inherit, most likely. It's my duty to my people to marry the person who will be the most help to my people."

"So you like me because I'm rich?" the prince asked with an amused smile.

"Well it doesn't hurt… but can't a girl like someone who's also rich with a lot of titles?" Lady Lephia asked. She was teasing, but she was also asking an honest question.

"No, there's nothing wrong with that. If you must be married for political reasons then you should at least hope it will be to someone who you can get along with," he said. "So you decided to try me out because Princess Rapunzel has returned?"

"No… Yes… No… kind of," Lephia said and the prince spun her around. "Maybe," she said and sighed. "I've… I've always liked you, but like I said before, I simply couldn't reach you before. You either needed a foreign king's daughter or one of the higher up nobles. I am neither… but you're not the crown prince anymore, so I now have a chance, even if it's small."

The prince seemed to consider her words. "Do you believe that the kingdom's people and well being should come first?" he asked her.

"Of course," she declared, seeming surprised he had even asked. The prince simply smiled.

"Is it more important to follow the law or serve the people?" he asked.

"Serve the people," she answered, which she noted made him smile even broader. "Can I ask you what all the questions are about?"

"I'm just considering a few things," the prince said. "You're staying here for a few while still, yes?" he asked.

"Yes, still shopping for suitors I'm afraid," the young noble woman said with a heavy sigh that made the prince chuckle.

"You wouldn't mind me coming to see you then, would you?" he asked.

Lady Lephia couldn't believe her ears. "Yes! Yes, of course, this is what I've dream-" She started, feeling like all the blood in her body was rushing to her head. She was so excited. "Uh- I mean that I would be honored your highness," she said as they dance ended. To her delight the prince drew her hand up to his mouth and brushed his lips lightly against the back of said hand.

"No, _I_ would be honored," he said before going off to dance with another partner. Lephia felt like she'd just lived a dream. She pinched the hand he hadn't kissed to be sure that she really wasn't dreaming.

Prince Frederick sipped his drink. The party was over and he would be headed to bed soon. He'd allowed the servants to change him before he dismissed them. He was perfectly capable of dressing himself, but it was somewhat insulting toward the servants not to let them do their job.

He'd taken a big risk tonight, and he would take more. Lady Lephia's family was popular among the people, and among the other lesser nobles. She also seemed to truly care about her people. He was going to need people to support him if he planned to get rid of Rapunzel.

He was thinking treasonous thoughts, but he couldn't stop. The kingdom needed someone who knew how to take care of the people. Rapunzel was a nice girl, but she simply didn't have the training to become Queen. He had vowed to protect the kingdom during his knight's training, and that's exactly what he was going to do now: protect the kingdom from having a bad ruler.


	4. Chapter 4

Flynn munched happily on one of the pastries Rapunzel had made. Frankly, Attila made much better cupcakes. They were becoming quite popular at _Attila's Cupcakes and More_, but getting any involved walking all the way to town and standing in line… and paying for them! With Rapunzel all he had to do was ask and she'd hand him a couple, or he could pilfer a few and make her giggle and get a couple less, but he'd made her laugh. Besides that Rapunzel only baked about once a week. He wasn't about to miss her baking day.

He sighed and looked down at the report he'd gotten. He was still training, but that didn't mean that he didn't have to deal with the paperwork of an office he hadn't undertaken yet. He wondered why he'd ever even bothered turning straight. One bite of another pastry reminded him of why, there was a girl.

He started reading the report. Every time the blandness of it got to be too much he took a bite of pastry and suddenly everything seemed much better. He sighed and looked out the window. He could see Maximus training the new Frying Pan brigade. Both Flynn and Rapunzel trained with them. Rapunzel was better than him, but he didn't mind. Flynn had trained with knives and fists, not kitchen utensils. Although, seeing the knives the kitchen had, Flynn was glad Rapunzel had hit him with a frying pan and hadn't decided on using something far pointier when he'd first snuck into her tower.

He looked back at the report, sifting through it. He frowned, finding a coded paper in between. To the untrained eye it seemed like a normal page of report on rainfall in the outer kingdom, which was why he was looking at the coded page and not someone higher up. He slipped out and pulled out his little black book of codes and started to decode.

He pulled out another sheet of parchment and started to decode the message. The more he read the more he started to frown. "Oh, this is bad," he said when he finished, looking over the page. He folded the paper, but kept it in his hand so it seemed like he was simply delivering a letter. He needed to speak with someone about this now.

He headed out of his little office, locking the door as he went before heading to the spy master, Old Archimedes' office. Old Archimedes's real name wasn't Archimedes, and he wasn't even that old, but it was a persona that had been made for the job. Flynn knocked on the door and waited for it to open before entering.

Old Archimedes was the code name for Prince Johann, the present king's youngest brother. Johann had never married, and there were all kind of rumors about him, but he was also King William's spy master. Johan's hair was still mostly brown, though there was a lot of grey in it. He was a handsome older man with a devilish kind of look. Flynn rather liked him, even though he had to admit the prince could be very intimidating.

"What is it Rider? I'm busy," the prince said, barely glancing up from his work. He was deciphering other reports that had come in.

"Some of your mail got rerouted," Flynn said, making sure the door was shut tight before he handed the translation to Old Archimedes. The man took the letter, and ran his eyes over it. The speed at which he read was always unsettling, but it was the fact that he did look troubled.

"Are you sure this is correct Rider? You didn't make a mistake in translating?" The man asked, a certain graveness in his voice.

"Yes sir, it seems that a couple of fiefs at our outermost borders have started stocking weapons and the order for those weapons came from within the palace. The people receiving the weapons have shown no interest in them so far, as they've been told to hold onto them until further notice." Flynn said, reiterating the message in case he hadn't written it all down.

The older man nodded. "Don't tell anyone about this just yet. I'm going to send a few of our people to look into it. I want you to continue your job as you normally do. It'll be too obvious if you go looking for things like this. This is was we have clerks for," he said, instructing Flynn carefully. So far he'd seen that Rider had an annoying habit of trying to solve things on his own. He supposed it came from being a thief who basically screwed over all his old mates. This was a different world though, one that Rider still stuck out in like a sore thumb. The king wanted him because he was good with the people, but Rider would need to learn a lot more before he'd be able to go poking around in matters of money trails without seeming suspicious.

"So you want me to just sit on my thumbs about this?" Flynn asked, exasperated with the idea.

"Yes, for lack of a better phrase. Keep up what you're doing now, trust me when I say that we've had such things happen before and took care of them quietly… besides, this may be a simple accident of the bureaucracy, such things do happen…" the prince said before trailing off. "In this case you must keep your head down." He said. Rider needed very specific instruction with no wiggle room or else he'd go off and do something stupid. It was something both irritating and beautiful about the boy's personality Old Archimedes thought.

"So what can I do?" Flynn asked, trying to not sound annoyed. Old Archimedes had been doing this far longer than he had, and probably knew what he was talking about; Flynn just kind of hated having no control of a situation, especially when he knew something that not many other didn't, especially after the last time he'd almost been hanged.

"What you normally do, but practice those memory exorcises. Start looking at people. Stuff goes on here all the time. People say bad things about the monarchs because they're griping, but sometimes it's not just griping, sometimes it is, or can turn into something far worse. It's why we must note everything. For all we know this message may turn into a wild goose chase because of an error, or because someone set it up, or because there is someone trying to plan a very poor rebellion this way. Whatever it is let's not get ourselves all nervous and jumpy yet, my boy. Now go back to work," the prince said, dismissing Flynn as he turned back to his desk and went back to his paper work.

* * *

Prince Frederick was very amused. Someone should be getting the message of his little distraction soon. He wanted Old Archimedes to be more on guard. The young Prince was still working on a plan. He didn't want to overthrow Rapunzel specifically, just as he didn't want to overthrow the sitting monarchs. He didn't want to kill any of them if he could help that. Regicide at this point would simply be to gain power, and he wasn't looking for power but for an assurance that his kingdom would be well taken care of.

He had a few plans, but he needed to have a few things set in motion for a rebellion if that's what it took. The weapon shipments were just a small diversion. No one would ever be able to connect it back to him. He knew too well how to mess with the system. It would take years to figure out the paper trail, and even still they'd never find his real name. They'd probably never find anything at all. Search for the money trail was also a fool's errand. He just needed to create something to distract Old Archimedes when he should keep his attention on other things. Even a small diversion like this might mean the difference between success and failure.

Lady Lephia was proving to be more useful than he thought both in court and out of it. What Prince Frederick needed to start with was a chance to prove that his cousin couldn't be a proper heir, and would only be an embarrassment in front of the foreign dignitaries. If his aunt and uncle would simply reconsider who they were going to name as heir it would make all of their lives easier. But if they didn't see the light he would, unfortunately, have to go to greater lengths to be sure Rapunzel did not wear the crown.

Prince Frederick sighed heavily and stood up, heading to the chapel. He didn't doubt that he could succeed in his plan… he just wasn't sure what condition the country would be in. He wanted to strike a balance that would not leave the country much worse off, especially not in the long run. If he did have to resort to a rebellion it could become very bloody… if only he could believe that his cousin could be a good ruler… but there was the rub.

He found himself in the chapel. He walked forward to the altar and kneeled down. Another part of his plan that he was just realizing could change very drastically before this was all over; the condition of his soul.


	5. Chapter 5

It was another one of those delightful social events his aunt and uncle hosted… or at least that's how it'd started. Prince Frederick wasn't sure when exactly the evening had changed, nor could he remember why he'd gone off with the nobles sons and visiting nobles. They were all his age, sons of diplomats or heirs to fiefs of his home country. They were young, handsome, eligible, and bred to live in a sphere of influence. Now they were drunk. Even he was a little buzzed. He sipped his drink slowly. If they thought he wasn't drunk like they were then they would throw him out. The information they were giving was too important to forget by being drunk though.

"That damn Fitzherbert bastard!" One young man, Prince Philip, snarled. "Without that bastard Princess Rapunzel would be looking toward real men to find a husband!"

"Or if her parents insisted as is proper!" agreed Prince Philip's Twin, Prince Charles. Charles was a little older than Philip, but only by a few minutes. Both were visiting from their country, but neither were the actual heir to the thrown in their country. Their second eldest brother was currently reigning. The only way either of them would get to rule a country would be to marry a Princess… not that they'd really rule if they married Rapunzel, but they did seem to think that they could rule in proxy, that Rapunzel was weak. Neither twin would ever make a proper husband to his cousin.

"If only that bastard of Herbert would die!" said another young man, Constantine. He was the son of a foreign diplomat. He had very little power but a lot of charisma. Prince Frederick considered that while Constantine was not royal by blood that neither was Eugene Fitzherbert, and Constantine would make a far better match for Rapunzel.

"He wouldn't be that hard to kill him," said another man, John. He was also a diplomat's son, but that diplomat happened to be the brother of a king. He too would make a better match for Rapunzel than Fitzherbert, but Prince Frederick would never allow it. John would never treat her properly.

"I don't know… he's survived enough so far… of course none of us could do it, but if we could find someone else more… professional, now that would do quite well," that last voice came from the second least drunk man in the room, Prince Christian. Prince Christian would not inherit his father's throne because he was the third son. His first brother had been a fool on the battle field and had died, but 2nd brother had turned out to be a very promising Prince, even still Prince Christian would have been the best choice. He was handsome, political minded, cunning, attentive, and kind. He was Prince Frederick's choice to become his dear cousin's husband.

Prince Frederick had been considering many things recently. Lady Lephia and her group were surprisingly resourceful. They were definitely keeping Old Archimedes busy. All of this was fine but so far not much was actually happening. The prince wouldn't deny that he was hesitant to act. He didn't want to overthrow the throne if he could help it. He didn't want to kill his aunt and uncle, and didn't want to harm Rapunzel, that left one last person.

If Eugene Fitzherbert was out of the picture everything would be so much easier. Fitzherbert was a handsome man, but Prince Christian was a good second. He also had connections, and experiences. He would be willing to make the hard decisions and loving to his wife the Queen. Prince Frederick would be willing to see his cousin married to Prince Christian. It would be the best of all options.

It hadn't been till earlier in the evening that Prince Frederick had really started to plan killing Flynn Rider. It'd started off with a conversation among the drunk men about how Fitz-X meant the bastard son of X. Then conversation turned to how awful it was that the Queen would be married to a bastard. Then the conversation became if only Fitzherbert wasn't alive.

Prince Frederick had somehow never considered it, and it was the simplest option. His mind had jumped to regicide before it'd jumped to killing the thief. Now he realized how foolish he'd been. All he had to do was kill Flynn Rider and position Prince Christian so that Rapunzel would take a liking to him. Prince Christian would make a fine King Consort, and their country would be well taken care of with Christian to guide Rapunzel. It was such a simple solution he wondered why he hadn't thought of it before.

* * *

Old Archimedes was fairly amused by the talk of the drunk young noble sons. He was less amused that Prince Frederick had been in the group, but not enough to attempt to put an end to it. According to his spies Prince Frederick and Prince Christian were neither very drunk, and both would probably remember what everyone said in the morning, but that wasn't a bad thing. Prince Christian was known for being able to adapt easily, and his spies assumed that he'd spoken as such out of the fact that it was truth and that not agreeing with the drunks would have caused a problem. It was such a pity Prince Christian was royalty; he would have made such a fine spy.

The same could be said of Prince Frederick, who opted to not speak at all and merely listen. Prince Frederick was brilliant at listening, which would have made him a fine monarch. As it was he would probably be one of the finest advisors that Rapunzel could have. In silence the Prince would neither lie nor approve of what was being said, nor would he attract attention to himself. Prince Frederick was perfectly politic even when not completely sober. It was almost a pity that he was no longer the heir to the throne.

With that thought Old Archimedes shook his head and went back to work. They were getting all sorts of seemingly banal reports of odd little things happening, things that mostly seemed to be clerking issues were way too many or way too small an amount of weapons were showing up, or sometimes shipments would show up at the wrong place or not show up at all. It was becoming troubling. Old Archimedes had a feeling that it wasn't just random, that there was a reason for it… except he couldn't prove anything yet.


	6. Chapter 6

She didn't know exactly when it happened. All she knew was that she was now pacing in the waiting room. She'd had a couple of times that she'd wished that she still had her healing hair… but now she wished more than ever. "Please, please, please, God, don't let Eugene die… he's my dream, you can't let him die," she whispered.

They were supposed to meet the previous night. He'd found out that the local bookstore had a copy of _The Tales of Flynnigan Rider_. They'd decided he would go out and buy a copy and that evening he could read her some of the stories. It was supposed to be a real date and everything. She'd ordered some of Attila's cupcakes which had been delivered for them and a bottle of wine. She'd been excited for it the whole day. Eugene hadn't been able to get away from his work until the night time, but the book store had still been open. With all the lanterns that were lit stores could stay open later. Rapunzel had been waiting for him… but he never showed up.

At first she'd assumed that he'd been held up talking to a friend… and then she'd thought that maybe he'd had trouble getting the book… and then she'd thought that maybe he'd stopped by the local pub for a drink… and then her mind went to the worst places. She'd imagined him finding a bar girl and taking her off to a back room. Eugene was the most handsome man she'd ever seen. Mother Gothel had told her stories about men; she'd said all they'd wanted was to use a woman for sex. Rapunzel knew that wasn't true… but that didn't mean that she still wasn't afraid. Eugene had made no indication of actually wanting to sleep with her. She thought that maybe if he'd made some move toward her that then maybe she'd think he really did love her and was just waiting until she was ready… but him saying nothing and making no moves made her wonder if he didn't have a girlfriend somewhere.

That's what she'd thought about him the night before, and now she felt so terribly guilty for it. He had passed the pub, but it was on the way back from the bookstore. He'd been stabbed by some nameless faceless thug. He'd laid there for the longest time just bleeding before someone realized that he was hurt and tried to help him… and it'd taken even longer for them to figure out who he was so he could be taken to the palace for proper treatment…. But no one had told her until that morning.

She couldn't stop pacing now. She wanted to cry. The palace physicians had been amazed by the story of her magic hair… and the tear that had saved his life before. They'd tried getting her to cry to heal small cuts, and it didn't seem to work. They had a couple of her tears but quickly figured out that there wasn't much power to her tears alone or to the singing. It wasn't impossible that she had to cry and sing at the same time, but she'd never gotten a chance to test it before. They wouldn't let her in to test it now.

"Your highness there's nothing that can be done by pacing here," one man said. She wasn't sure who said it. She didn't care either, she just ignored them ignored everyone. She just kept pacing. She just kept pacing until she felt hands land on her shoulders and start to guide her out.

"Highness, you have to stop, he wouldn't want you to worry so much," the young man said. He was very handsome, not has handsome as Euegen… but then no one was and handsome as Eugene.

"I'm sorry, but who are you and where are you taking me?" she asked.

"My apologies your highness, I am Prince Christian. Your cousin sent me to fetch you." The young man said kindly.

"Frederick… what for?" she asked.

"You've been pacing outside of the healing room for hours now. They're doing all they can. Prince Frederick has decided it would be better for you to not worry yourself so much. Fitzherbert is a strong young man, and the physicians have said he'll probably live. He wouldn't want you to worry so much, and you pacing like that will only make the surgeons nervous. Prince Frederick has set up a game of chess for you to play, after which, if Fitzherbert still isn't out, we'll find other things for you to do. The servants have been ordered to find you in Prince Frederick's chambers with any new news," he told her.

Rapunzel nodded and let herself be lead down to her cousin's room. She wasn't exactly sure what all they did. She was sure that they played chess. Frederick and Prince Christian were both very kind to her, something she'd be sure to remember once she wasn't so worried. She didn't remember falling asleep but she remembered Prince Christian waking her and escorting her down to where they'd been operating on Eugene. The surgeons had news for her.

* * *

"So, I did as you told me too, but I don't think it's going to be enough. She clearly loves Fitzherbert very much," Prince Christian said. He moved his knight, eyes on the chess board even though his mind wasn't there completely. He wanted to know what his chess opponent was planning.

"Yes, but it's enough for now. She will remember that you are the kind man who is friends with her beloved cousin both of whom helped her try and feel better when she was so upset over Fitzherbert being nearly dead." Prince Frederick said, countering with his own knight.

"And what will that achieve, pray tell," Prince Christian said, looking across the board at the other Prince. "Since Fitzherbert is still alive, and your plan failed."

"My plan hasn't failed yet. Fitzherbert will die, but not how, not from this attack. It would look too much like plain murder. It needs to be more of an accident. This is terrifying for our Princess, but she will remember the kindness you showed her when the man she loved was still going to live. Once he actually is dead she will remember. This isn't an immediate thing. It will take time. You must befriend her… you did say that you liked her," Prince Frederick pointed out, moving his queen. "Check."

Prince Christian moved his rook to block the queen. "Yes, I do like her. She's very lovely and very sweet. Even terrified she's very charming… but I do see what you mean. She's not been taught how to detach herself enough. She is too emotional. She needs someone else."

Prince Frederick moved his queen again. "Check," he said before looking up at the other Prince. "So you will do it then? You will agree to my plans."

"Yes, I'll help you with your plans. I only hope you don't destroy your country in the process," Prince Christian said, capturing his opponent's queen.

"Checkmate," Prince Frederick said, having set up a pawn to take the king while Prince Christian had focused on the queen. "I don't plan on destroying this country… in fact I'd like very much not to have to commit Regicide. The death of Flynn Rider will be hard on my cousin, but it will be better for our country, especially if she picks you as her husband. This is not a fast plan; this one will take time to set up. If it doesn't work, though… well that's my problem. You just make friends with Rapunzel," Prince Frederick said, sitting back in his chair with a heavy sigh, surveying the destruction of the battle field of his favorite chess board.

"I want very much to not cause a war," Prince Christian said.

"I assure you, that is the last thing that I plan on doing," Prince Frederick said.

"But it is on your list," Prince Christian pointed out.

"At the very bottom of my list… but yes, it is on my list," Prince Frederick said, taking a sip of the brandy he'd poured himself earlier. It had sat largely ignored during the match, but now he felt the very strong need to down the whole thing.


	7. Chapter 7

Rapunzel knocked on her cousin's door. "Frederick, can I come in?" she asked. The door opened and she stepped in.

"Is there something we can help you with Princess?" Prince Christian asked. He'd been the one to open the door and let her in. She glanced around, seeing Frederick looking consideringly at a chess board.

"What are you guys doing?" Rapunzel asked, looking back to Prince Christian who was closing the door.

"Your cousin is whipping me at chess. When you become queen I suggest making him your war minister, he's a brilliant tactician." Christian said, going back and retaking his seat.

"Being good at chess doesn't mean I'd make a good war minister," Prince Frederick chastised, followed by "Checkmate." While Prince Christian groaned, Prince Frederick looked up at Rapunzel. "Is there something I can do for you cousin?"

"Yes, I need you to come with me to town," she said.

"I can't," Prince Frederick said at the same time Prince Christian said:

"How come?"

"I wanted to buy a copy of _The Tales of Flynnigan Rider_ to read to Eugene… it's why he went out last week when he got stabbed. He's still bedridden and the copy he got is so covered in blood that no one could read it… and I don't think I really want to try either." Rapunzel explained.

"This still doesn't explain why you need me to go with you? You've gone by yourself before," Prince Frederick said.

"No… not really, I always went with Eugene or Maximus… and father says I need more protection for now… besides…" she started, but stopped, trailing off. She gripped the brim of her lavender hat nervously.

"Besides…" Prince Christian coaxed kindly, smiling at her.

"I'm afraid to go by myself," Rapunzel said quietly, sounding defeated. It was so different from how she normally acted that both men were at least partially taken aback. "So, Frederick, will you come with me? Maximus is busy with training… and I'm not really close to any of the guards like I am with you… and Eugene still isn't allowed out of bed… besides, I wanted to surprise him," she said, going mostly back to normal. She hadn't been her normal self much with Eugene hurt. Every moment that wasn't with her teachers she spent with Eugene. She'd have completely neglected her homework if Eugene hadn't been helping her with her assignments. She'd even spent her Saturday with her parents with Eugene as well, since she felt so uncomfortable with leaving him alone. This was the second time in under a year that Eugene had been close to never opening his eyes again and she could barely stand it.

"I'm sorry my little parsnip, but I can't. I'm visiting with my mother today or I would go. I'm actually heading out now," Prince Frederick said.

"Oh," Rapunzel said, deflating a little. "Oh, I see," she said.

"Why don't I escort you Princess?" Prince Christian asked. "I know I'm not close with you like you are with your cousin, but I'm one of your cousin's friends, and he would trust me with you. I'm safe," he assured her. "And this way you can go get the surprise for Eugene," he said, purposefully using Eugene's first name.

Rapunzel gripped her hat for a moment seeming nervous. Then she smiled and put the hat on her head. "Alright, let's go."

"Oh that hat," Prince Frederick said with a heavy sigh. "Are you really going to wear that silly thing out among people."

Rapunzel's lower lip trembled just the slightest for a moment before she stuck her chin up. "Eugene picked it out for me and I like it," she declared. She did like the hat, but she hadn't worn it since she picked it out. Eugene had picked it out for her, and she'd needed the comfort of being near something that iEugene/i had selected ifor her/i.

"Now don't be mean Prince, it's a cute hat, and it looks nice on you. Prince Frederick's just teasing. He can't see that now isn't the time for teasing though," Prince Christian said.

"Do you like it?" Rapunzel asked, reaching up self consciously to touch the rim.

"It looks great on you. There's a reason your lover selected it for you… and I bet it's in your favorite color isn't it?" Prince Christian asked, grabbing his cloak. He ushered her toward the door.

Rapunzel sniffed a little, but grinned. "Yes it is, how did you know?" She asked. Prince Christian looked her up and down to indicate her all lavender dress, which made her laugh. "Oh, right… bye Frederick!" she called as they walked out.

* * *

They'd taken time in the bookstore to look around. Rapunzel could never go to the bookstore without picking up a new book or two. Prince Christian goaded her into buying a few bound copies of plays, suggesting very highly Marlowe's "Faustus" and Moliere's "Le Misanthrope". Prince Christian was fairly well read, and was more than willing to tell her stories he'd read. He was a very good storyteller. He had a certain cadence that made it easy to listen to him. Prince Christian spent a considerable amount of time selecting books for himself, with the promise that she could borrow them later if she wanted. They bought so many that they had to have them sent back to the Palace. The only book they carried out was _The Tales of Flynnigan Rider_.

After that they made a trip to _Attila's Cupcakes and More_, where they indulged in a cupcake each, and bought half a dozen to bring to Eugene. After that they headed back to the Palace feeling completely content and at home with each other. Rapunzel was surprised at how easily she got along with Prince Christian. She got along well with people, but it was easiest when she was also around someone she knew and trusted. She barely knew Prince Christian, but she got on so well with him. She'd even been able to really laugh when she'd had a hard time managing a smile all week. She knew Eugene would be okay, but she was worried.

"I don't mean to sound rude," Prince Christian said, snapping Rapunzel out of her musings. "But I was curious as to why you fell in love with Eugene Fitzherbert?"

"Oh, it's not rude. You heard the story about how I was lost, and how I was found right?" She asked.

"Yes, I remember hearing that Fitzherbert was your guide home," Prince Christian said.

"Well he was more than that. At one point I was captured and tied up by Mother Gothel… he came to rescue me… he was the first one to realize something was wrong and tried to save me… and when he got there Mother Gothel tricked him and stabbed him… he nearly died… but at the time…" She sighed and looked over at Prince Christian who was listening attentively.

"but at the time…" Prince Christian coaxed kindly, smiling at her.

"You've seen the mosaic of me as a baby with the blonde hair right?" she asked.

"Yes, I've seen it," he replied.

"Well… when my mother got sick when she was pregnant with me she got very sick. She was saved by the power of the sun flower… but the power got passed on to me. I had magic hair that would glow and heal people when I sang… but if it got cut the power would go away. Eugene knew this… and he cut my hair when I tried to heal him. At the time I'd made a deal to go with Mother Gothel and help keep her young forever if she'd let me heal him… but he cut my hair… he actually died." Rapunzel said.

"If he died then… then how is he alive now?" Prince Christan asked.

"I sang the incantation song and cried… and when that happened he was healed," she explained.

"So, was it like one last little burst of the sun flower's power in you… or do your tears heal when you sing the spell?" Prince Christian asked, looking fascinated.

"Well… I really don't know… you see I've never been able to repeat the experiment. I tried with using tears I'd already cried to sing over them… but that didn't really work… so I don't know," Rapunzel admitted, feeling momentarily wary of him. Other people, the palace surgeons, had asked as well… this was different though. Gothel had told her so many stories about people trying to use her hand her hair… it was almost like her tears would be her new hair.

"You call her Mother Gothel? How come?" Prince Christian asked innocently.

"She pretended to be my mother for all of my life… it's why I never came home before… I thought I was home… but she just lied to me and used me," she said, reaching up and touching the brim of her hat for comfort.

"Then why do you still call her Mother Gothel?"

"Old habits die hard I suppose," Rapunzel said with a weak smile.

"Your lover, Eugene Fitzherbert… what he did was very brave," Prince Christian said with a smile. "I can see why you love him so much."

"I do love him… although I'm not sure you could call him my lover…" she said, feeling uncomfortable for a whole new reason.

"Oh, and why is that?"

"Eugene and I haven't… well we've never… I mean… I'm not sure if I should say out in public like this," Rapunzel said, blushing bright red.

"You've never slept with him before," Prince Christian said, grinning. "It's okay. Obviously he loves you very much and is just trying to wait. It ruins a woman's reputation for her to sleep with a man before marriage, even if she does marry that man in the end. If he didn't respect you, if he didn't love you like he seems to do, then he would sleep with you. As it is he's waiting for you. It means he's a very good man, and you are very lucky," Prince Christian assured her.

"You really think so?" Rapunzel asked. She was completely oblivious. She knew that some people weren't happy with her and Eugene being together… she didn't realize to what extent some people didn't want them together. It was always disheartening for her to realize what people thought of Eugene… that he wasn't good enough for her, especially when sometimes she felt she wasn't good enough for him.

"Yes, I really do," Prince Christian said as they came into view of the Palace's front gates, "I really do."

* * *

Prince Christian dropped Rapunzel, the cupcakes, and _The Tales of Flynnigan Rider _off at Eugene's room in the infirmary. He said a very quick hello and goodbye before leaving the pair alone. That left Rapunzel alone with Eugene as he considered the cupcakes.

"So, he seems nice," Eugene said. He'd been eyeing the Prince as soon as he came in. "Handsome, though not as handsome as me," he said.

"Oh Eugene please don't be jealous," Rapunzel said.

"Who's jealous? I'm not jealous? Why would I be jealous?" Eugene played up, completely not convincing.

"Eugene," Rapunzel said, giving him a look. "Prince Christian was very nice to me. He took me to town and was the one who suggested Atilla's cupcakes."

"Well I do like cupcakes, but I'm not sure I like you going out alone with single men," Eugene said before biting into a cupcake. "Wow, these are heavenly."

"Eugene, focus," Rapunzel said, not wanting him to change topics on her already. "Prince Christian is a good man. We spent a good amount of time talking about you. He's one of the few people who seems to genuinely support our relationship, and he's the first with that much political standing, besides my parents, to say so to my face," she said. "Besides that he said something very nice to me about you."

"What did he say?" Eugene asked, not completely convinced.

Rapunzel smiled, not wanting to tell him everything just yet; because that would lead to a bigger conversation she just wasn't ready to have yet. "He told me that given evidence of things I've told him and things he's heard about you, that you really love and respect me," she said, reaching out and running her fingers through Eugene's hair. She smiled and it made him smile. "It made me realize how lucky I am you have you," she said.

Eugene smiled, and his eyes traveled up to the lavender hat. "You're wearing the hat I picked out for you," he said.

"Yeah, I am," Rapunzel said, reaching up and touching the brim self consciously again.

"I haven't seen you wear it since I picked it out for you," Eugene said, having trouble keeping the hurt out of his voice. It had hurt that even though they had gone out to town again, even on really sunny days, she hadn't worn the sun hat he'd specifically selected for her.

"That's because I haven't worn it since then until today," she admitted.

"How come?" he asked.

"I'm not really sure," she said, rubbing the brim between two of her fingers. "I really like this hat… but I just took it off and never put it back on… and I'm not really sure why," she said. "When I found it today I felt really guilty… and I wanted something to wear that reminded me of you… and then Prince Christian said that it looked really good on me, and there's a reason you picked it out for me… and I felt good wearing it." She explained. "What?" she asked.

"Oh Nothing, I just love you," Eugene said. He'd started smiling. He pulled her over into a kiss before handing her a cupcake. "Here, eat one of these and then read me the first tale from the book you bought me. If you're good I'll read you the second one," he said. Rapunzel grinned and got a cupcake, eating it happily while flipping through the book to the first story.

Eugene didn't feel as happy as he knew he should. For one thing his suspicion had been right. The thing Prince Frederick said to her about the hat had made her feel too self conscious to wear it, and she didn't even realize it. He couldn't prove it, but Eugene was certain that Prince Frederick had specifically designed the statement for that effect… except that felt too paranoid to share with anyone or even really acknowledge.

And then there was Prince Christian… Eugene wasn't sure if it was good that Prince Christian saying he liked the hat made Rapunzel feel confident about wearing it. On one hand she'd probably wear it more, and maybe all she needed was some kind of confirmation from someone who had nothing to gain by saying the hat looked good on her that the hat did in fact look good on her. On the other hand what he thought about the hat didn't make her wear it more than once, and it took the opinion of _another man _before she'd think about wearing it again. And if he hadn't been hurt she wouldn't have worn it at all…

There was that though, she took comfort in something that he'd selected for her. She was upset and afraid and what she took to comfort her was the hat he's picked for her. That made him feel good in a way that not even all his nerves about Prince Frederick or Prince Christian could even get close to touching. She loved him and depended on him to make her feel better. Even having something with her that reminded her of him made her feel better. It made him feel loved and wanted. Nothing the people outside of that room could say to him or her could change that.


	8. Chapter 8

Eugene Fitzherbert got out of the hospital in time for the big winter ball, but he wasn't well enough to actually go. It galled him that after all the work he'd put into dance lessons that he wouldn't get to go, but he'd bid Rapunzel adieu and kissed her goodbye before she went and then he stayed in his room and did work. He was behind from all the days he'd been in the hospital healing up and old Archimedes was not going to be happy if he didn't catch up real quickly.

He'd assumed that everything was going fine until Rapunzel came to him in tears. He didn't get everything out of her about what happened. He got it later from Rapunzel's father when he went to speak with him about it and what to do. Rapunzel had said she wasn't sure she could be a good monarch when she'd cried into his shirt. Eugene had to know what happened.

The day after the event he stayed with Rapunzel, as she seemed too afraid to go out and face people. The day after that her parents came for her. Rapunzel went off with Queen Catherine. Eugene followed the King to the Hall of Kings to have a very serious talk.

The Hall of Kings was one most impressive rooms in the palace. It was grand, large, and decedent filled with treasures of Corona's past monarchs, as well as portraits of said monarchs. Underneath the Hall of Kings, as Eugene knew, was another hall filled with older, less famous monarchs. Under that were even more, even darker halls that had even more Kings. Corona kept a very precise history, one that went back to their old homeland before the first King William, the first King of Corona, created the Kingdom. There was a lot of very carefully kept history, history that Rapunzel had to study at great length now, and that Eugene was just learning just how vast the amount of knowledge was.

That was where King William took Eugene to talk about what happened at the ball, all the way to the end where the old portrait of the King, his Queen, and his golden haired daughter hung. "This was commissioned before Rapunzel was even born," the King said. "My wife and I were sketched before her stomach started to grow. Rapunzel was drawn only a day after she was born. Most of this picture was done from the artist's memory," he said.

Eugene's eyes were drawn to the image of baby Rapunzel. "It looks a lot like her Majesty," the ex-thief said.

"This was what I raised the years that my daughter was gone," he said. "I often came to look at this picture whenever it just became too much for me to bare… looking at this picture I could believe that it was all just a terrible dream… that it'd only been a day and Rapunzel would be found and I could hold my baby girl… or that she'd never been stolen at all… I could picture her growing up so well that sometimes I really did believe that her being stolen was just a bad joke I was being told," The kind said, reaching up and touching the cheek of the baby Rapunzel.

"Sir?" Eugene asked. His eyes traveled to the spot the King touched and he saw how worn it was. He realized how often the King must have touched that spot in proxy for his daughter.

"Her mother handled the loss better than I did… or at least she pretended to for me," the King continued. "I imagined holding her as a little girl and telling her: "baby, no matter what I will always love you and I will always be proud of you." I imagined that Fitzherbert," the King said.

"Sir… I don't understand," Eugene started. "What does-" The King cut him off.

"I was so proud of her that night… the night of the festival. I was so proud of her," the King said flatly, not looking at Eugene. Eugene wasn't sure if the King was even looking at anything at all.

"She told me that it was terrible, that she did everything wrong," Eugene said, not understanding.

"Oh she messed up… and she messed up horribly, but she did not do everything wrong… in fact she did one thing very right," the King said, his tone very serious. "Do you know what happened Fitzherbert?"

"No, she wouldn't tell me… and I didn't want to push the subject because she was so upset," Eugene responded, still feeling a little lost.

"Nothing went her way. She tripped while dancing with a young man… Prince Philip. She tripped badly, and in trying to not fall she ended up falling on him with her face in between his legs," the King started.

"You mean in his-"

"Yes," the King cut him off before he could say the word 'crotch'. There were some things a father simply didn't want to think about. "The whole night was like that. During another dance, she accidentally stepped on one young lady's dress, Lady Lephia, ripped the whole thing off the poor girl. Rapunzel stood in front of her until Frederick threw his cloak around the girl and lead her off. Later Rapunzel set a man on fire. It was an accident dealing with the dinner candles and the cloth napkins… one thing after another like that… all night long… all the way up until this end." The King sighed heavily.

"What happened at the end?" Eugene asked, not sure he really wanted to hear the answer.

"She stood up at the wrong time, knocked into the men who were bringing in the desert for the evening. It was a huge pudding. She spilled it all over herself and the waiters," the King said with another heavy sigh.

Eugene winced. Hot pudding would hurt. He suspected it didn't get on her as much as it did those men. "but you said you were proud of her, sir," Eugene pointed out. At that moment the King turned around and he was smiling.

"She acted like a monarch, always. When she landed on the Prince she was blushing but she smiled and apologized and let him help her up. She even laughed at the bawdy jokes he made following the accident. Even after that she went back out on the dance floor and tried again, where she danced a number of dances without incident. When she ruined that girl's dress she stood in front of her and protected her from view of others until her cousin could get the girl out. When she set the man on fire she quickly put him out, and would have gone to tend to him if we hadn't pulled her back in her seat. When she dumped the pudding on the men she tried to help them clean up. When that was over she stood there in front of everyone with pudding dripping from her hair and gown and with a large smile on her face. She apologized to everyone for how she had messed up that evening, and then excused herself to get cleaned up, and wished them a good holiday." The look in the King's eyes and he spoke was pride.

King William continued. "Rapunzel, without the training to deal with those situations handled them gracefully and with care for those involved in her mistakes. She never ran. She never cried in front of those people. She never acted as less than a strong, confidant Princess. I am so proud of her for what she did… we all have bad nights, it happens, and she handled it was a strength and maturity that most people will never accomplish in their entire lives. I am very proud… and I am hurt, because I wish I could have been the one to teach her to act like that."

Eugene looked at the King, the heart sore man who'd wanted to raise his daughter, and was robbed of that chance. "I think you are being too hard on yourself. Rapunzel loves you very much; it's obvious by how she talks about you. I think that if she hadn't spent time with you she never would have known how to act. She acted as she thought you would, your Majesty."

"Don't be such a flatterer boy. It doesn't suit you," the King scolded gruffly, clearly not amused.

"I'm not an idle flatterer sir. I think you know that. I wouldn't say such things if I didn't believe they were true… but you know what else. I think you should tell her all of this," Eugene said with a smile. In some ways the King reminded him a lot of Rapunzel.

"Her mother's taking care of it. She'll make her feel better," the King said simply.

"That may be, sir. She may feel better after talking to the Queen, but she'll always wonder if you really aren't unhappy if you don't tell her what you told me," Eugene said.

"How do you know this, boy," the King snapped. He'd been getting annoyed for a while, but now he was getting angry. "Are you telling me I don't know how to deal with my own daughter?"

"With all due respect, _your Majesty_, you don't. Rapunzel, as much as she loves people, is also afraid of them. It's because of how Gothel raised her. Rapunzel told me the old witch used to tell Rapunzel that her father would beat Gothel, and he tried to kill her and sell Rapunzel. Rapunzel wouldn't believe such a thing about you… but that doesn't mean that she won't think that you're angry with her. She's never had a father… neither have I for that matter… she doesn't know how to act around you anymore than I would know how to act around the man who's seed bore me," Eugene said honestly.

The King had been getting very angry, but now he looked thoughtful. He considered Eugene Fitzherbert very carefully for a while. "You know her better than I do… and that's galling."

"You should bring her here and tell her everything that you told, especially about how proud you are of her… how much you wanted her… and what you planned to tell her when she was growing up," Eugene said, taking a step back. He'd crossed a line with King William, but he'd had to cross it, for Rapunzel's sake.

"You're a foolish boy," the King said, walking over to Eugene and clapping him on the shoulder. "Any other man would have backed down if their King spoke to him like that… but you stayed there and told me what I needed, not what I wanted to hear…" The King looked Eugene in the eyes. "And this is why I want you to marry my daughter someday, because you love her more than you love yourself. No matter what anyone else thinks you will be a fine husband to my daughter, never doubt that." The King said and walked off, heading to find his daughter and to bring her to the Hall of Kings.

Eugene waited until he could no longer hear King William's footsteps, then he walked over to the spot in front of the image of baby Rapunzel. He reached out and touched the spot the King had touched so often that the texture of the paint was started to wear smooth. Eugene wondered for a moment what it would have been like to be born to a family who loved him enough to mourn the loss of him… he wondered what it would be like to have a mother who was still alive and a father who acknowledged him… and then he wondered what it would be like to have children… and son of his own… and a daughter. Caught up in his own fantasy Eugene suddenly wondered what it would be like to lose his children and not be able to find them or know if they were safe. He could almost feel the anguish the King had experienced over the years of wearing smooth the spot Eugene now touched.

Eugene took a step back, looking at the painting. "I'm never going to let it happen to you, I swear," he whispered. He stared at the painting for another moment before starting to walk away, backwards at first, and then he turned on his heel and walked away.

* * *

Prince Frederick hadn't planned to do what he'd done. He hadn't gone back to the party like he'd planned. He'd set up most of the incidents that Rapunzel had run into, he'd set it up so it would happen… he'd even talked Lephia into getting subtly close enough to let Rapunzel step on her hem and rip her dress… he just hadn't expected Lephia's dress to be ripped off. He stared in horror for a moment, everyone was staring. The only thing obscuring Lady Lephia's shame was her hands and Rapunzel's skirts. He'd rushed forward, removing the short cloak he wore as he went. He wrapped it around the young noble woman as she gathered up her dress as best she could and he escorted her out.

He hadn't planned on what happened after that. He'd taken her back to his room, not knowing where she was staying. He'd planned to get a servant to go get clothes for her, but they'd never gotten to that. Lephia had started crying as soon as the door had been shut. Her tears spilled from her eyes as words spilled from her mouth. She apologized for embarrassing him. She was so humiliated. She'd worn one of her mother's dresses… an old, beautiful family heirloom that was now ruined. She couldn't stop crying and he hadn't been able to think of anything.

He'd stepped to her and pulled her into a hug… and the next thing he knew he was kissing her. The next thing he knew they were undressing. The next thing he knew they were sleeping together. The next thing he knew he was waking up next to her. The next thing he knew he was telling her all of his plans… and everything he felt about his Kingdom. The next thing he knew she was kissing him. The next thing he knew they were spending a day in and out of bed, forsaking everything such a food or common decency. The next thing he knew it was a day later and the sun had risen again, casting light over the woman in his bed and he was watching her wake up.

"Lephia, will you marry me?" he asked, reaching out his hand and running his fingers through her hair as she smiled up at him.

"Yes Frederick, I'll marry you," she said, her face still pressed against her pillow, but her eyes upon the face of the man she'd fallen In love with.


	9. Chapter 9

King William considered himself a good ruler. He wasn't sure he could be classified as a good man. He found that good rulers very nearly never seemed to be good men. He believed himself to be a good ruler though. He was as honest as the safety of his country and politics would allow. He was as high minded as he could be given what happened to his daughter. He was an intelligent man, one who didn't listen to rumors, that was his brother's job. Yet one persistent and troubling rumor had reached his ears, one about his dear nephew Frederick.

Frederick had been the closest thing to a son, a child he could raise, as King William would ever get. The King loved his daughter more than just about anything, but he had a special place in his heart for Prince Frederick, the boy he'd raised to be king. He found it almost a shame that the bright, good hearted, proper boy would not be King, yet the rightful heir had returned, and there was such a thing as the Divine Right of Kings.

The rumor had bothered the King. Frederick was so proper and perfectly politic. He never did anything in public that would be misconstrued or seem off color. Although the young man did seem to enjoy the bawdy joke when it was just the two of them, and indulged in tobacco like a normal man, it was never where any but his most trusted would witness or get word about his off habits. Frederick was a proper gentleman and a proper young man. What the King heard flying around on the lips of servants disturbed him because it was so not like his nephew.

The King was smart enough to know his nephew was hardly chaste or virginal, but he'd never heard of him slipping off to a brothel, or sleeping around with even the lowest maid. In fact he seemed such a proper gentleman that the normal rumors were that he was queer. Frederick seemed to think the idea was hilarious, which helped to keep the rumors fairly well quashed. No one would ever accuse Frederick of doing a noble lady wrong, which was why this rumor was so disturbing. It was why the king called Frederick in to speak to him.

"Frederick, it's been a while since it's been just the two of us," the King said, offering his nephew a seat and a bit of tobacco for his pipe. Frederick accepted both and struck the match for the both of them. Neither of them smoked in public or around many people at all. Queen Catherine abhorred the habit, which was more than enough deterrent to not make it a regular habit.

"Yes, but the King has limited time, and you need to spend time with my darling cousin," Frederick said with a broad and charming smile. If King William didn't know any better sometimes he'd swear the boy would be a fine trickster, it was hard not to trust him when he smiled.

"Yes… Frederick I need to speak with you, and not as your King but as your uncle, do you understand?" King William asked, jumping to the heart of the matter.

"Of course uncle," Frederick said, understanding the different between Uncle William and King William and the necessity of both.

"I've heard an odd rumor running around about you. You know I'm not one for such things, but this one caught my attention," the King said, taking a puff from his pipe.

"How so uncle?" Frederick asked, also smoking his pipe. He didn't seem at all worried.

"It's about you," the King said.

"It's not the old one about me being queer as a bedbug is it uncle? Because I thought we'd gone over that one enough," Frederick said in startling good humor for that time of morning for him.

"No," the King said, giving his nephew a wary look. "I wish it was… no it's a new one. You know I dislike idle talk, especially about my family, but I had a hard time ignoring this one. There were reports that after the Winter Ball you took a court lady back to your room, and spent the night with her. Servants say they saw you with her in your bed after your ordered food from the kitchen to be brought up." The King spoke frankly. "Now normally I disregard such rumors, but it's so not like you that it really shocked me."

The King would have said more but Prince Frederick held up his hand, indicating he wanted to speak. He took another pleasant puff from his pipe, the smoke wafting out of his mouth as he spoke. "No need to say any more uncle, I have heard the rumors to, and they're true," the Prince said with a smile.

"Well of course these rumors are fal- what?" The King stopped, his brain racing to catch up with his mouth. "They're true!"

Prince Frederick smiled, again, lazily smoking from his pipe, seeming content and not at all bothered by the allegation. "Yes uncle they're true."

"What's gotten into you Frederick," the King demanded. "Normally you're so careful!"

"Uncle, please calm down, this isn't a problem," the Prince said. He held up his hand once more to keep his Uncle from interjecting while the Prince stopped to breathe. "They are very true, and there is a reason. The woman is question is Lady Lephia, you remember her, yes?"

"Yes, the girl from the ball that my daughter-"

"Yes, that Rapunzel stepped on," Frederick said, not wanting the King to finish that sentence. "I took her back to my room when I led her off. I was panicked at the time. She's such a nice young woman and I felt bad for her. We get along very well… and one thing led to another and we spent the night together… and the next day… and the night after that." Frederick smiled. "Uncle, you've gone white as a ghost," he said in a boyish-teasing tone.

"Frederick, it's one thing for a nobleman to sleep with a servant or a whore, but it's another thing to dishonor a noblewoman, especially in such a manner. There is no way for her family to broker a proper marriage for her now, which that family desperately needs," the King said, horrified for his nephew's clear disregard. "I taught you better than this."

"But you did uncle," Prince Frederick said, still smiling. "And there is a way for her to still be properly married."

"How? And will you stop smiling!" The King demanded, starting to get very angry.

"No dear uncle, I won't stop smiling. I can't stop smiling. If you weren't so enraged on her behalf you'd understand that you don't need to be enraged on her behalf."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm say that I love her. I'm love with that wonderful creature, and I've asked her to marry me," Frederick said. "She's so so wonderful, and brilliant. I don't care about someone being so close to the throne is supposed to marry better or more politic. I don't care about what you have to say, or aunt Catherine, or even Lephia's family. I don't care. I adore her, and I'm going to marry her, with, or without your blessing, and by God, you gave Rapunzel your blessing and she'd in love with a criminal who only a few months ago who was feet away from the gallows for stealing the crown jewels!" Frederick exclaimed.

The King and Prince sat in silence for a moment. Slowly the King went back to smoking his pipe, something he hadn't done since he'd first lit up. He watched his nephew's face, replayed his nephew's words in his mind, and considered what he'd found out. "You really do love her don't you? I've seen you impassioned about war, about philosophy, about politics… but never this impassioned, and never about a person. You do love her, don't you?" the King asked.

"I love her… My God I really love you," Frederick said, putting his pipe out on his uncle's desk something, the King noted with slight annoyance but more amusement, the boy never would have done even when angry. "I'd assumed I'd have a political marriage of some form, even before Rapunzel returned, and after I was sure of it… but I love Lephia, I absolutely adore her. I actually understand her, and we think alike… it's rather terrifying," the Prince said with a little smile, and a small chuckle. "I didn't expect this."

"Most people don't," the King said, leaning back in his chair, smoking thoughtfully. "You know I had arranged marriage. I got to pick from the daughters of my father's best friend, a man who owned a lot of land. Whoever I picked would inherit all of his land, and that land would be her dowry, and before part of the kingdom. It was a merger. I picked Catherine because she was the prettiest. It was a foolish choice as I was sore, young, and stupid." That made Frederick laugh, and the King joined him.

"You both get along very well," Frederick pointed out.

"That's because my wife is smarter than me," the King said, making them both laugh. "I picked the prettiest one, which was stupid of me… It terrifies me because of Catherina hadn't been a little prettier than her sisters I would have picked another… of course she insists that I thought she was prettier because I was already attracted to her. Rubish I say, she's far more beautiful than her sisters…" The King let out a wistful sigh.

"And?" Frederick asked, urging the King to continue his story.

"I started to fall in love with her over the honeymoon. I won't say sex makes love, but it doesn't hurt," he said, making his nephew laugh and shake his head while the other man smiled. "But the more I talked to her the more I came to like her. Eventually I was very much in love with her… and it was heart breaking when she got sick and nearly died. The physicians said they could abort and save Catherine, but she wouldn't hear of it," the King said, looking sad.

"That's when you heard about the flower," Frederick said, having heard the story for that point.

"Yes," the King said with a sad smile. "That was when…" he sighed heavily before looking at Frederick. "Do right by this girl Freddie, do right by her or I swear I'll just kill you."

Frederick smiled despite his uncle's very real threat. "I know uncle; I plan to be very, very good to her."

* * *

News of Prince Frederick and Lady Lephia's wedding spread very quickly. Many people were glad to hear about the Prince's engagement, especially after hearing some very nasty rumors about him taking a court woman to bed. The two most happy with the news, aside from the couple themselves, was probably the Queen and her daughter. Queen Catherine immediately took a liking to the young woman and very soon after hearing about the engagement started to start planning the wedding. Rapunzel also took a liking to Lady Lephia. She embraced the young woman like she would a new sister.

There was one person who was not exactly happy with the arrangements, Eugene Fitzherbert. Eugene wasn't sure why the news bothered him. If anything it was good that Frederick was finally out of his hair. Frederick only saw Rapunzel now if Lady Lephia was around. Eugene should have been happy to have him gone, especially since he had other more pressing problems. There were still records of odd shipments arriving in the outer country, and shipments of food and weapons simply disappearing, though all records showed they arrived and were properly logged so no one could be blamed for their disappearance. There was also the matter of Prince Christian.

Prince Christian had been the first to find Rapunzel once she was willing to show her face again. He's tried to see her before, but until three days after the party, when her father imade/i her go out, Rapunzel had only taken company in the form of Eugene or her parents. The foreign Prince had been the first to seek her out after herself imposed confinement, and told her what both her parents and Eugene had told her over and over, that everyone has their bad nights, and she handled hers with great strength and grace.

Eugene understood that it was easy to feel like the people who loved you were just trying to make you feel better, and her understood that Prince Christian's own personal anecdotes were hilarious (he was still laughing at them over a week and a half later), but it annoyed the hell out of him that Prince Christian telling her she'd done well made her feel better than her or even her parents telling her that. He's kept that feeling of jealousy all to himself though. Prince Christian seemed kind, and he showed no interest in Rapunzel aside from being friendly. In fact Eugene got along with him fairly well when he was around, and the Prince made a seemingly conscious effort to speak to him whenever he saw him… but Eugene still didn't completely trust him.

He wondered if he just felt paranoid. Prince Frederick had set him off a lot, but the man didn't seem to pose any real threat. Prince Christian seemed like he was nice to everyone and not particularly singling him or Rapunzel out… or even flirting with Rapunzel. Yet Eugene couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He blamed it on being a commoner dating the Princess. He blamed it on having just gotten out of the hospital, even if he had been feeling paranoid before. He blamed it on attending the hangings of the Stabbington Brothers, and realizing how close he himself had been… and really still was if he stepped a toe too far out of line with Rapunzel, from taking the same drop. But nothing her told himself made him feel any less like there was something wrong with Prince Christian spending time with Rapunzel, and something even worse wrong with Prince Frederick spending time with her.

And with all the paranoia he was feeling the thing that was bothering him most was that the damn Prince was going to get married before him. Eugene didn't mind waiting to marry Rapunzel… that much. He didn't mind waiting to sleep with her until they were married… again, that much. He just couldn't quite get over the fact that the annoying bastard who, Eugene was sure, was trying to ruin the ex-thief's relationship with the Princess was getting married ibefore/i them.

He suspected that all of this was the driving force behind the incredibly stupid thing he'd done. During one of his daily times with Rapunzel, when she was happily settled in his lap and they were reading a large book of Fairy Tales he had popped the question. They'd just gotten to the part where the Fairy Prince married the beautiful maiden and they all lived happily ever after, when Eugene got this romantic urge.

"Rapunzel, I love you, will you marry me?" Eugene had asked very suddenly.

Rapunzel had laughed at first, thinking it all a joke until she'd realized he was very serious. "Oh…. Eugene… I don't… I don't think so."

"Why not, don't you love me?" Eugene had asked, half joking, and only half joking.

Rapunzel had smiled at him in a way that said 'you dear sweet man,' and kissed his cheek. "Of course I love you," she replied. "But we just can't, not now?"

"And why not?" Eugene demanded with more force than he really should have because he'd seen the way she winced. It made him self-consciously run his tongue over his teeth to be sure he wasn't turning into her biggest fear.

"Because Eugene, it's just too much. I've not even been here a full year yet. I'm still learning so much, and I still have so many things I'm not good at. You know I'm still afraid of people. Even going out among people, and Maximus's morning frying pan practice hasn't helped yet. Besides that I'm studying all the time, and so are. I still can't face the court, especially after the Winter Ball… and to top it all off Cousin Frederick and Lephia have just announced they're getting married, and I don't want to take away from them, which our wedding announcement probably will. I'm just not read," she told him.

He was sure he'd said something to the effect of 'yeah okay,' and had wanted very much to change the subject when she'd suddenly caught on as to why he'd asked.

"Eugene… you didn't ask me to marry you because Cousin Frederick and Lephia are getting married… did you?" She'd asked him the one question he really wanted her to not ask. He knew he'd answered it in the worst possible way. It wasn't much better than the time she'd begged him not to freak out after she'd healed his hand.

He hadn't seen her since then. It'd only been a day, but still. He knew he'd done something very stupid… something it was going to take a lot of work to fix.


	10. Chapter 10

"Oh Lephia, it's beautiful!" Rapunzel said, looking at Lephia's engagement ring. It was an emerald tear shaped gem with a small diamond on either side. Privately Rapunzel wished that the next time Eugene proposed to her he'd have a ring like that. She was still upset at him over his proposal a few days before. She'd barely talked to him at all. Frankly the silence putting a strain on both of them, but she felt too abused over the whole ordeal to go apologize to him for being so silent the past five days.

"I know, Frederick finally got around to getting me a proper ring," Lephia said, smiling warmly. She tucked a bit of her dirty blonde hair behind ear. It kept falling in her eyes, but she wasn't frustrated enough to fix the (now messy) bun she'd been putting her hair in when Rapunzel came in.

"Are you excited?" Rapunzel asked. "Do you both have a date for the wedding?" She asked, all happy. She felt comfortable around Lephia. Lephia was just… smart and kind. She didn't look down on her for her limited knowledge. She'd also forgiven Rapunzel for the incident at the ball before Rapunzel had forgiven herself for it.

"I'm excited… and terrified," she admitted. "There's a big difference between helping to run our small lands to running Frederick's. His land holding is so much larger it's rather… well, again, terrifying," she admitted with a weak smile. "And depending on what position he's in here I may be the main person running his estates…" She sighed.

Rapunzel smiled weakly. Outside of the kingdom her family also had their own estates. Her father was having her practice ruling a kingdom by having her be more hands on in ruling their estates. It was, as Lephia said, terrifying. She was suddenly in charge of these people's lives, people she hadn't even met. She'd been getting a lot of advice on the mater. Her last meeting with Frederick was solely about governing an estate, as had been her last meeting with her father... and really with just about everyone. Even all the advice she was given didn't take away the fact that _she_ would be the one making the decisions that would affect people's lives. "What about the wedding?"

"Oh, yeah… sorry, I get distracted with the particle. Frederick's going to take me in a few weeks to visit in his estates… and his mother's coming to meet me," she winced. "I kind of get the idea from Frederick that she's not very happy about all this."

"You mean you getting married?" Rapunzel asked.

Lephia suddenly looked really uncomfortable. "Mmmmm,eeehhh…. Kind of, but that's not all of it," she said, looking very hesitant to tell Rapunzel the truth.

"Well, what's the all of it?" Rapunzel asked, clearly not understanding.

"Well, of course there is me… while my family's holding isn't very big, or really great with resources, it's an important place for military strategy, especially with it being so near out mountain border… It means that I'm very well versed with certain things that Frederick finds appealing, like medical knowledge, military tactics, a certain amount of fighting, and book keeping. With my father dead, and my brother off in the army, and my little brother barely out of diapers I've been running my estate a lot… but we don't have much… and I don't spend that much time in the courts here… Frederick thinks his mother's not going to like me because she'll see me as backwards," she said.

"Oh… I wonder what she'd think of me…?" Rapunzel wondered. She thought Lephia was brilliant and fairly well together. If Lephia would be considered backwards, then how backwards was she?

"Well…" Lephia hesitated. She liked Rapunzel, she felt bad for her really. She probably would have made a great ruler if circumstances were better… and she was a wonderful person… but it seemed unlikely that she'd be a great ruler like she needed to be. "You're part of the all of it," Lephia said.

"What do you mean by that?" Rapunzel asked, feeling like she should be offended, but not knowing why.

Lephia reached out and took Rapunzel's hand suddenly, squeezing it tightly. "Rapunzel, you have to understand… consider it a warning of things you'll have to deal with… Frederick loves you and loves this kingdom very much, and he'll want to do right by Corona more than anything. But for other people… You were a wonderful symbol… a sign of the people, and you still are, but nobles aren't like the people… they're more vicious. Eventually their mentality might seep down to their vassals," she said, trying to make Rapunzel understand.

"What are you saying?" Rapunzel asked clearly, wanting Lephia to get to the point. She could feel Lephia shaking a little like she was scared to tell her. That was what betrayed the noble woman's nerves alone because her face was perfectly blank.

"Rapunzel, Frederick was supposed to be King after your father died. He's been raised for it nearly since birth. He was the heir before you. He was trained and raised for this. There is the Divine Right of Kings, which is why you will rule once King William dies… but it was supposed to be Frederick. Your father is still young enough, but not as young as he used to be," she said. "There are people who will resent you for coming back… people like Frederick's mother who think that he would make a better ruler. Whether they're right or wrong that's how they'll feel… and whenever you do anything wrong they will compare you and Frederick… always," she said softly.

"Oh," Rapunzel said, pulling her hand away and rubbing it as if to make the pain in her soul she was feeling. "Like what happened at the winter ball…" she said trailing off.

"Rapunzel!" Lephia said exasperated. "You have to stop bringing that up. In the long run it's a wrinkle on your blouse. It's so much better that you did it now rather than later… and you were very braze about all of it… and besides… if it weren't for what you did to me… I'm not sure Frederick would have ever stopped long enough to see me like he does now," she admitted with a smile and a pleased blush.

Rapunzel smiled, though not as much as Lephia, but she smiled. Lephia knew how to cheer her up. "So why not tell me about your wedding?"

Lephia looked at her suspiciously after the sudden change of topic. "I'm sorry that I told you Rapunzel… are you okay?" she asked, not one hundred percent sure she was being honest. If it helped Frederick get closer to what he needed, then she wouldn't feel so bad… but it felt bad hurting someone as sweet as Rapunzel.

"I need to think about what you said… but no, don't be sorry… I wish someone had told me sooner… will you apologize to Frederick for me… for me coming back as taking the throne from him?" she asked.

Lephia looked surprised, and then nodded slowly. "I'm fairly certain that he'll tell you that you don't need to apologize for that… but yes, I will tell him."

"Thank you, now tell me about your wedding," she ordered with a smile, making the other woman laugh.

"Well, it will be two weeks after the Spring Equinox, give people time to calm down from one celebration before starting another. Frederick and Queen Catherine keep putting their heads together and making it bigger somehow… it's dizzying," she said.

"How so?" Rapunzel asked, clearly fascinated and happy to have a different topic to keep her mind off the new information she'd been given earlier.

"Well, for one thing the wedding dress," Lephia said, starting to sound every bit as flustered over her wedding as she was feeling. "You know how expensive a nice dress can be… so I've always wanted a spring green. It's not too expensive and will look nice, but Frederick is insisting on white. He said something like 'white for purity for you is best'," she said, blushing and exasperated. By their normal standards she was hardly pure anymore… though she had been before the Winter Ball. "So I tried to insist on green. _He_ finally came up with a compromise, though it's hardly a compromise," Lephia said, shaking her head.

"How so?" Rapunzel prompted again, wanting to hear about the dress.

"He said that we'll add a sheer white sheath over the dress and have someone embroider green around the hem and maybe the cuffs… but that's even more expensive. Real pure white is very hard to make, and he doesn't want off white he'd insisting on snow white… and sheer fabric, especially for the quality expected of a Prince's bride will be terribly expensive… I thought he was so sensible about spending, but now I'm starting to worry if I'm not going to have to help keep him from going into debt," she said, sounding seriously troubled which made Rapunzel laugh.

"I think pure white will look good on you… Cousin Frederick just doesn't want anyone to see you as less. If, on your first appearance as a princess, you're dressed up with beautiful, fine, expensive clothes no one will be able to question the legitimacy of you being a princess… it's because he loves you… Cousin Frederick hates spending money," she assured her.

Lephia grinned. "Thank you Rapunzel… that makes me feel ever so much better," she said.

* * *

Lephia walked in to Frederick's study and kissed his cheek, making him look up from his work instantly and pull her into a deeper kiss. "Have a good day love?" he asked her. It really amused her how much like a puppy he could be sometimes.

"Yeah… I spent a few hours with Rapunzel… she told me something nice about you," she said with a dreamy sort of smile. She sat down on the arm of his chair and he rested his hand on the small of her back.

"What did she say?" he asked, sounding curious.

"She said that you obviously loved me," she said.

"Well I thought you knew that already," he said with a sudden mischievous grin. He pulled Lephia into his lap, making her squawk and laugh.

"I did… but it's nice when someone else notices it as well," she said and kissed his cheek. "You need to shave," she teased, rubbing his stubbly face. In all the times she'd seen him he'd either had a very small and well groomed beard on his chin and lower lip, or been completely clean shaven. He'd shaved all his facial hair off recently, but now he'd clearly missed a day of shaving, which really wasn't like him.

"Touché," he said a bit dully, but with a slight smile, rubbing his scraggly face as well. "I've been busy and haven't gotten much sleep yet," he admitted.

"Then you should go to bed," Lephia said, moving to get up and drag him to bed, but his arms kept her from removing herself from his lap. "What gives?"

"Aren't you going to ask me what I've been busy with?" he asked with a little smirk-ish-smile that she liked when it wasn't aimed at her because it reminded her far too much of a cat with a mouse under his paw and she did not like being the mouse.

"Fine…" she said with exasperation, knowing she'd have to play along or she could never get up, which she suddenly wanted to do very badly because he wasn't letting her. "Frederick, what has been keeping you so busy?" she asked, kicking her voice up and octave to sound overly girly to tease and annoy him.

"Well, besides sending numerous letters to mother trying to get her to like you a little bit before she arrives," he said, causing Lephai to wince. "I've been working on our little plan," he said.

"Oh… how's it going?" she asked.

"No sooner than late summer… but that seems like an opportune time, don't you think?" he asked her with a little cat-with-mouse-smirk-smile, but this time it wasn't specifically aimed at her.

"Yes… Freddie," she said, watching him wince but not correct her, which made her grin. "I talk to Rapunzel today… told her how people would feel about her being heir over you… she told me to apologize for taking the throne from you."

For a moment Frederick's expression was nearly unreadable, but Lephia understood. Frederick did love Rapunzel, and he had a good idea that she probably wouldn't be alive by the end of summer… and while it would be better for the kingdom it hurt him because he did love her… he just love his people more. "Why should she apologize? She did nothing wrong, this is the law after all, and by all rights she is the proper heir… just what are you smiling about?" he asked, seeing Lephia smile.

"Oh nothing, just you," Lephia said, resting her head on his chest, relaxing now that she was no longer being held against her will. "I told her you'd say that… and you know what?"

"What?" he asked.

"I love you," she said with a happy smile.

Frederick smiled too, a warm smile. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "I love you too Leffie," he said. "How about you take me to bed now so I can get a few hours of sleep before y next meeting?"


	11. Chapter 11

"You should just go talk to her," Prince Christian said.

"I know, but it's more complicated than that," Eugene groaned into his desk.

"You haven't spoken to her in over two weeks, how can it possibly get any worse by talking to her?" Prince Christian pointed out.

"Because there's no way to apologize for this," Eugene muttered, looking at the code he was supposed to be deciphering and had given up on almost an hour before.

"Well, now you just sound like you're complaining," Prince Christian pointed out, almost unable to conceal the amusement in his voice and the smile that kept threatening to form on his lips. He knew he shouldn't really enjoy this, but deep down some sadistic part of him enjoyed listening to Eugene Fitzherbert's whining. That was probably the only reason why he'd been there for over an hour, listening to the man's story.

"I'm not just complaining. Tell me, what would you say? "_Hey, Rapunzel, I'm sorry about asking you to marry me, _(that part alone sounds terrible)._ I was feeling really jealous of Prince Frederick because I feel like he has some secret plot to keep us apart, and I'm fairly certain that Prince Christian's in on it._" Yeah, that will go over fantastic!" Eugene said with great emphasis and sarcasm.

"Thank you for including me in your paranoid rant-apology by the way, that was very generous of you," Prince Christian said, now thoroughly unable to keep the smile from his face, even though he was still wrestling with himself to keep from sounding too amused.

"Yes, well I really hate you, because I can't hate you. You're terribly nice, and you're really damn helpful, and you've been really supportive of Rapunzel when she needs friends with the nobles. But then you're also everyone's idea of who should marry Rapunzel… and by the way things are going so far everyone will probably get their wish," Eugene ended on a heavy sigh, sinking deep into depression.

"Well, at least your honest with yourself," Christian said, sounding very amused, which caused Eugene to turn and glare at him. "Oh don't give me that look; it's really not as bad as you think. The time just stretched longer because you got sent away for a few days. Now it's thoroughly stupid for these last three days, since you've been home and haven't even gone to see her," Christian pointed out, causing Eugene to nod in agreement and sigh heavily. "The more you wait the worse this all gets. So you should just go see her."

Eugene sighed again. He'd been sighing a lot recently. "I'm not sure-"

"That doesn't matter. Rapunzel loves you very much, and the truth is that she worries about you leaving her."

"Has she told you this in all the time you've spent with her?" Eugene asked. Prince Christian had spent a lot of time with Rapunzel, taking her out to town and helping her study, since Eugene was currently not part of her life.

"Not recently. Actually she does get very upset if your name gets brought up, and she tends to get quiet sometimes, times I'm fairly certain she's thinking about you… no, it was back when you were injured. She told me that she felt very guilty when you got hurt because when you hadn't shown up she just assumed that you'd gone and found another girl to sleep with, especially since you were trying to sleep with her."

Eugene looked stunned. "Doesn't she know me- Doesn't she realize why- What's going on?" he asked, barely able to put words together.

"I get the impression that she sees men as creatures who need sex, and don't have any control. She assumes that you love her, so you don't try and force her into something she's not sure about yet, but that you get your needs met elsewhere," Christian said gravely. "She seems to have a relatively pessimistic view on men… in reality. Do you have any idea why?"

A dark look passed over Eugene's face for a moment. "Oh yeah, I know exactly why," he said, standing up and heading for the door.

"Where are you headed?" Christian asked with a smile, leaning back in his chair.

"To talk to Rapunzel," Eugene stopped and looked back at Christian. "Hey, even though I hate you, and I'm still certain you're up to something, you're not all bad for royalty… but you still have to get out of my office while I'm not here."

Prince Christian laughed and got up; walking out past Eugene and watching him lock the door. "As blunt as ever, and just as quick," he said, making Eugene glare at him again as he walked off.

* * *

Eugene strode purposefully down toward Rapunzel's room. A servant had told him that's where she was, currently studying. He hadn't meant for the time to stretch so long. She avoided him for a couple of days, and after that it just became harder and harder to see her. He'd had a seven day trip that Old Archimedes had sent him off on… but the past three days… he had trouble not lying and saying that he hadn't been avoiding her. It was so easy to lie, when they didn't talk to each other they couldn't line up their schedules, which was hard enough to do when they kept in contact. He'd been busy. She'd been busy. There were hundreds of excuses, but they were all lies.

It took a kick in the pants, in the form of a visit from Prince Christian, to finally get him to go talk to her. Eugene hated Prince Christian, but it was really hard not to like him. He was just a good guy. Eugene had trouble not feeling like there was some kind of something happening behind his back with Prince Frederick and Prince Christian, but that didn't mean that Prince Christian didn't want to help Rapunzel.

That's all what it ultimately came down to, didn't it? Eugene was afraid that Prince Christian was in love with Rapunzel… and after all she was so easy to love. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew that Prince Christian had really helped them, more than once apparently. He'd spoken well of Eugene even when he hadn't met him before. But Eugene couldn't get rid of the underlying feeling that it was all for Prince Christian's gain. After all, if something should happen that Eugene Fitzherbert's life ended suddenly, then wouldn't Prince Christian be a great new possibility for Princess Rapunzel to marry? And he'd been so kind to both her and the late Eugene Fitzherbert before the accident.

No, he wasn't going to think about that. Right now he had much more important things to focus on.

He knocked on Rapunzel's door and waited. His nerves made it feel like hours, but he was sure it was only seconds before she told him to "come in".

By the look on her face when he came in he knew that he really shouldn't have waited so long. She looked shocked, and overjoyed, and hurt all at once. It took a lot out of him to not just hit the floor on his knees with enough force to slide him over to her and beg for forgiveness. Instead he calmly shut the door and crossed about half way, just looking down at her.

"Eugene," she said carefully, looking him in the eyes and trying to act cold and distant.

"Rapunzel, I'm sorry," he said.

"You're sorry?" she asked, almost as if she didn't believe it.

"I'm sorry that I asked you to marry me like that. You were right, it was because of Prince Frederick's engagement. I feel like… less when I stand next to him, and it hurt my pride that he was getting married first. And I'm sorry that I didn't try to apologize after it first happened. And I'm sorry that I didn't apologize before I had to leave for my trip. And I'm sorry that I didn't find you first thing after I came back and apologize. And I apologize that it took me three days to come. And I apologize that I had to get Prince Christian to talk to me before I finally got up the courage to come see you and apologize for how stupid I've been in the past two weeks. I'm very sorry, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me," He said.

He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but when she burst into tears he knew that was probably the thing he'd hoped wouldn't happened the most. "W-why c-c-couldn't you have said this sooner?" Rapunzel asked, hiding her tears in her arm.

He was the rest of the way across the room in three strides. He pulled her out of her chair and into a hug. For a few long moments he just let her cry, rubbing her back and making soothing sounds. "I felt too guilty the first few days, and you were avoiding me, so I didn't want to push the issue… and after I came back… well I've been avoiding you?"

"Did you do something that you'd have to avoid me for?" she asked, wiping her eyes, but more tears threatening to come if she didn't like the answer.

"Not like how you're thinking of… I don't think," he said. He guided her over to her bed and sat down there with her. "You know how you've never done a lot of things?" he asked, watching her sniffle and nod. "Well, I've never been in love before I met you," he said.

"Really?" she asked. "But I mean, you've been with a lot of girls-"

"Yes, I have," Eugene said, cutting her off. "But that was exactly the point. I was Flynn Rider, the man who broke a million hearts. Though it was hardly a million, or even a thousand or a hundred," he added, seeing the look on Rapunzel's face. "I slept with girls, I didn't love them. The idea was to make them fall in love with me, sleep with them, and leave them broken hearted."

"That's disgusting," Rapunzel said, glaring at him.

"It was a fantasy," Flynn said. "I doubt I was around long enough for any girl to really fall for me, not very hard anyway. The ideal man, who leaves a trail of broken hearts behind him. I played a fantasy… for myself and others. It's not like I had anything to offer them," he said. "And then there's you."

"Then there's me," Rapunze said, watching his face closely. She was still reserving judgment for him until he finished.

"I have never, never been in a long term relationship… hell, never even been in a relationship. You're my first Blondie," he said, using his old, affectionate nickname for her, trying to make her smile. He got a very slight twitch in the corner of her mouth for his troubles. "So, one, I'm really every bit as bad at this as you are, maybe more so because all I've ever had were one night stands. Second, I'm not sure you realize how bad you mess me up."

"What do you mean?" she asked, seeming to have warmed up to him a little bit.

"I mean… Rapunzel I do plan on marrying you someday. I've never even considered being in a real relationship with a girl, let alone marrying her. But I plan to marry you. The proof is that I haven't tried to sleep with you yet. I'm not sure if you've gotten to that part in your religion studies yet, but you're supposed to wait to have sex before you're married. The idea is that a man doesn't sleep with a woman who he plans to marry until they're married."

"But Cousin Frederick and Lady Lephia…" Rapunzel said.

"Yeah, but it's different for them, different for everyone," he told her. "You're special… and you're going to be Queen. I need to do things right, for both of us. Besides… if you really think that a man can't control himself than you're obviously not well informed enough to be having sex yet anyway." He said with a slight smile.

"I know they can," she said, blushing terribly and crossing her arms over their chest.

"But you thought I was sleeping around the night I got stabbed."

"How did you know about that?" she asked, sounding shocked and a little scared.

"Prince Christian told me. I'm not mad. I'm hurt, but I'm not mad. I thought you understood that you were special to me, and that we're together, which means neither of us can have a relationship with another person, emotionally or physically," he told her. "I can tell now that you don't understand which is why I'm explaining now. I'm going to keep asking you to marry me until you say yes, and I'm going to wait to sleep with you until our honeymoon. Do you understand?" he asked, cupping her face in his hands.

"I do Eugene," Rapunzel said. "Can you forgive me?" she asked, sniffling again.

"Of course I can," he said, leaning down and kissing her. "Can you forgive me for all the stupid things I've done over the past two weeks?"

"That depends… can I still be mad at you?" she asked.

"No, but you can start forgiving me. When I've earned enough for your not to be mad at me anymore than you've fully forgiven me. Until then you can partly forgive me enough that we don't have to avoid each other anymore."

"Is that how it always works?" Rapunzel asked.

"Not always, but sometimes, and in this case, yes." Eugene told her before leaning down and kissing her again. "I'm still really sorry."

"I know," Rapunzel said. "Thank you for apologizing," she said softly. "Um… Eugene?"

"Yeah Rapunzel?"

"I love you," she said hesitantly.

"I love you too," he said with a warm smile.


	12. Chapter 12

Corona was a fairly large country, at least relative to the countries around it. The capital of Corona (also named Corona), was built on shipping port, on an island connect to the main land. It was a shipping port that had one entrance/exit for ships, and the water was otherwise inside of a valley. It was secluded enough to be safe from attacks, and close enough to trade routes to be a major shipping port, which added to Corona's wealth.

Frederick's holding was not like this at all. On Frederick's mother's side he was a Lorraine, the ruling royal family. On his (deceased) father's side he was a Salian, the wealthiest family besides the Lorraines. His family holding was a combination of his mother's dowry, and the Salian estates. Unlike Corona's capital, which was a sea port housed in a valley, the Salia was an area of rich farming ground. A lot of Corona's food was grown in either Salia or Salian owned property, especial Coronan Apples.

Lephia knew all of this, but it was one thing to know it, and another to see it. For sure, Frederick's _maison_ wasn't as large or grand as the palace in Corona, but it was still ages past the rough, sturdy tower her family lived in. She fought down the urge to tuck herself against Frederick for comfort. When she married Frederick these would be her lands, and her people, and it would be her job to care for them. If Frederick was unable to separate Eugene Fitzherbert and Rapunzel, and Frederick had to push forward on his other plans then she would be the person in charge of his estates.

It was a daunting task, but in some ways she loved the challenge. Frederick had promised to pay off her family's debts and leave her mother with a generous bride price besides. Lephia was a daughter of the mountains, but now she would have to run a holding where the main problem wasn't having enough food for the winter, or being attacked by bandits, but making sure that they produced enough food to feed everyone, but not so much as to not make a profit. She would be in charge of making sure Corona had enough food.

Yet somehow none of this compared to the hardship she was about to take: meeting Frederick's mother.

Frederick's mother was an attractive older woman. Her face had lined some over the years, but she didn't look that far off from the portrait of her hanging in the halls of Corona's palace. What's more, she looked just like Frederick, same hair, same eyes, same complexion. Brown hair, brown eyes, fair skinned. She held herself tall and proud, like a woman who had much. She was tall and slender, and regal.

Lephia didn't want to stand next to her. Lephia wasn't ugly, and she wasn't fat. Merely, she didn't have the carriage of someone who was born from the line of kings. At that moment Lephia fully understood the stress Rapunzel felt to live up to a royal way that, by having not grown up with it, she'd probably never fully grasp. Lephia understood, as she exited the carriage with Frederick and walked over to greet his mother, that Lady Gisela of Lorraine and Salia would never accept her.

* * *

"Why are we doing this again?"

"We're buying a wedding present for Lephia and your cousin Frederick," Queen Catherine told her daughter.

"Not to be rude… I mean, I don't know know, I mean why not just…"

"Would you mind speaking up a little bit, I'm having trouble hearing you, and I'd like to hear what you have to say," Queen Catherine said.

There is was, just another sign that the queen wasn't like Mother Gothel. Gothel always ridiculed Rapunzel for mumbling. Her real mother didn't do that, but asked her to speak up so she could hear and understand. The idea that her mother really wanted to know what she had to say made Rapunzel smile and gave her the confidence to speak up. What she didn't know was that Eugene, after promising not to tell anyone what she'd told him about Gothel and how she was treated by her fake mother, went to the King and Queen and told them everything he could so they'd understand her better.

"Why are we buying something from town and not ordering something made?" A few weeks ago, or even with many of her teachers now, Rapunzel would never have asked such a question, not out loud anyway.

"There are a couple of reasons. For one, a lot of the wedding will be custom made. Second, it's good to be seen around town once in a while. Third, it's good to give shops our business, it will temporarily boost their sales. And finally, buying special under garments for the bride is a tradition in my family." Queen Catherine said that last bit with a smile so ready for trouble that Rapunzel was temporarily reminded of Eugene.

"So, why am I here?" Eugene asked.

The queen glanced back at him, still smiling. "So I can embarrass you by making you spend a day with your future mother in law in a lingerie store," she said with a wicked look on her face.

She'd drug him out of his normal job with some vague comment about needing a guard. At the time he hadn't minded so much because the work was boring and he'd be with Rapunzel, even if they did have a chaperone. He'd been spending as much time with her as he possibly could to make up for how many weeks they'd lost. Somehow being back together made being separated even for a small bit of time seem all the more worse.

Now he was starting to wonder if it wouldn't have been better to stay in his office decoding messages.

"Is it really a tradition?" Rapunzel asked.

"Yes, actually. In my family the women get together and buy undergarments for the bride for her wedding night. My sisters did it for me, and I did it for them. When you get married I'll with Lephia to buy for you," she said with a pleasant smile that inspired fear in the pit of Eugene's stomach.

He'd always assumed that he needed to be afraid of King William the most, but now he was starting to reconsider. Queen Catherina, the King had said, had been strong for her husband when Rapunzel was taken away. It was clear to Eugene now how far the Queen had gone, and would go. Rapunzel was a lot like the Queen, in flashes. Rapunzel loved adventure and learning new things, difference and discovery. This could sometimes include looks that put his Smolder to shame.

Then there was the Queen, who was every bit as intelligent, but without all Rapunzel's fears and with all kinds of strength, confidence, and a downright wicked personality. Yes Queen Catherine had brought him along to torture him, but there was something very clear about her saying she would buy underwear for her daughter's wedding night: If the Queen was ever given reason to doubt him, or to feel that he would be a bad companion for Rapunzel he'd be dead so fast. The King wouldn't even have to back her up. King William would give Rapunzel away at the wedding, but without Queen Catherine's silent consent would never be a wedding.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Sorry this took so long. I'm not dead. This isn't inactive but I just got off of finals season and finished a two year degree with a 3.6 this last semester. In other words I was really busy! Quick notes, I'm working on getting published this summer, so that means I might not update as much, and I'm leaving for England 4th of July weekend. Anyway, thanks for the patience.

* * *

Lady Gisela of Lorraine and Salia was not pleased at all. She paced around in front of her mirror, smacking her fan against her palm lightly. Even the light hits caused pain as the fan was made of iron and silk. It was a wedding gift from her husband, a sign of the wealth she'd been born into and deserved. It was a bladed fan, a _Shukusen_, from the east. When opened the fan was a lovely brown with green leaves embroidered on it. When open the fan could slice through a wood pole like knife through warm butter. She even knew how to use it.

It had always been her dream to pass the fan on to her only son's wife, a wife who would come from affluence and wealth, who would make the Salian and Lorraine family heritage proud, even if Frederick wouldn't become king. That was part of the sting though wasn't it? That stupid little know-nothing girl had come back from the dead. She had been a great symbol to the people, a reason to dance every year. She should have stayed a symbol and faded into legend, simply a story told during the summer festival that people cared less and less about as it became more and more improbable for the girl to return… just like every other celebration their country recognized.

Lady Gisela wouldn't have minded, so much, if the girl had been found when she was still a child… but she wasn't still a child, she was eighteen and an adult. She had clearly inherited some of her parents good traits, but not enough to ever be able to rule… and she was marrying a commoner. When William had married he'd helped bring together a country, helped get land for Corona… what would Rapunzel get from her marriage besides a man who knew less about ruling a country than she did?

To add insult to injury her son, her wonderful Frederick had picked as a wife a woman whom he hadn't cared enough about to not sleep with before marriage. He'd probably gotten her knocked up, or dear honor-bound William had insisted. It didn't matter, this girl, Lephia, she would bring nothing to the Lorraine or Salian family name. She was simply the daughter of a poorer, lower noble.

Lady Gisela smacked her fan against her hand so hard at that thought that she broke her angry concentration, and shook out her hand. She examined her palm, sure that she would have a bruise in the morning. Oh well, it didn't matter.

Her eyes traveled from her hand up to her reflection in the mirror. She was every bit her son, except older and female. Her complexion was darker, with brown hair and brown eyes, though she had more wrinkles now than she wished. The crows feet and laugh lines were unwelcome additions to her face. Her think, dark brown hair was also starting to silver. She normally kept her hair in a tight braid or a tight bun, which somehow made the sporadic lines of white and grey far less painful to look at. She was a handsome older woman just past her prime, and she was proud of her age, which meant she never tried to hide her grey hairs like other women did. She was less happy with the wrinkles, but she was vein about her age. It helped that she had so far aged very gracefully and looked about ten years younger than she really was.

She was the sister to the king, the mother to the previous heir, and the wife and current matriarch of the Salia clan. Frederick was the only living Salia heir now, and he needed to have children. She hadn't pushed her son to marry before, but now that he was getting older he did need to get married… but to a girl from a lower station? What was her son thinking? To lady Gisela's way of thinking it seemed like Frederick's dear returned royal cousin may have been a bad influence on him. That thought made Lady Gisela grip the handle of her fan so hard she was sure that when she unclenched her hand that some of the iron would remain on her hands.

There was a very strong knock on the door. "Come in," Lady Gisela said, or voice lifting one octave higher than her voice normally sounded. She didn't have to ask who it was, no one else knocked like that since he husband died. She turned to the door and smiled at her only son. "Frederick," she said, walking over to him as he shut the door and throwing her arms around him.

Frederick leaned down and kissed his mother's cheek. "Good afternoon mother. I heard you were hiding up here," he said, returning the hug before moving past his mother to one of the plush arm chairs.

Lady Gisela pouted. "I wasn't hiding, I was thinking," she said, moving over to one of the arm chairs. She tried not to smile seeing her very proper son sprawl over his favorite chair like he always did.

"Uh-huh," Frederick said, leaning back in the chair. "Mmm, what do you say you let me take this chair back with me to the palace, as a wedding gift?" he asked with a smile.

Lady Gisela laughed, "and take away the one excuse to visit me? I don't think so," she said. Frederick laughed at that, and for just a moment the two were at ease, but it wasn't going to last. They had to talk about it at some point, the elephant in the room. The question was only who would bring it up first.

"Mother, I'm here for a reason," Frederick said. It seemed he would be the one. "I've been told that you refuse to be in the same room with Lephia if I'm not also present," he said.

"Oh dear, it's not like that-" Lady Gisela started, but a cold look from her son stopped her from speaking more. He was looking more and more like his father every day. Henry had never been a warm man, but he'd seen something special in Gisela. The marriage had been political, and Gisela had never seen anything wrong with that, but Henry's strong presence had always made her feel safe and at piece, as had the way he'd looked at her, like there was no one more beautiful than her. She'd been on the receiving end of his cold looks before, but it shocked her to see it from her son.

"Yes it is mother," Frederick said. "I have been raised to be the heir, remember? I've lived in Corona's palace for most of my life. I know what and how it looks when a mother doesn't approve of her son's choice of a bride," he said, speaking coldly.

"Frederick, don't take that tone with me," Gisela said, attempting to keep the authority in her voice.

"No, I don't think I'll change my tone," Frederick said. "I know you wanted me to pick someone for a political reason, like father did with you. I have chosen Lephia for my own reasons. I have looked at the other eligible girls from higher families, and most of them simply won't do." He spoke directly, as if his words were not to be questioned. "Lephia has taken care of her family's estates for a long while. She will be able to care for Salia. That is the reason I will give you to trust my choice," he said.

"But Frederick-"

"No buts mother," Frederick snapped, standing up. "Lephia will be my wife. I already have the King and Queen's approval. I'm also the leader of the Salian family. In this household the only one who has more authority is King William. I don't have to ask your permission. I brought her here in the hopes that you'd be accepting of her. I can see that I was wrong, but let me explain this to you now. You have two options. You can either gain a daughter, or lose a son," he said.

Frederick said nothing. Lady Gisela said nothing. They just looked at each other for a moment before Frederick turned and walked out, leaving Gisela alone with her thoughts.

* * *

Lephia curled herself around Frederick, placing soft kisses on his neck and shoulders, trying to soothe him. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

"Don't be," Frederick murmured, burying his face into her neck. He'd returned an hour before and simply dragged her into bed. He hadn't had to explain, she understood, the talk hadn't gone well. They'd both noticed that Lady Gisela had made an excuse to leave every time it seemed like her and Lephia would be in the same room. After a day of it happening Frederick simply couldn't ignore it and had gone to talk with his mother. When he'd come back he'd been furious, but after a few hugs and kisses he'd completely dissolved.

"You should talk about it then," Lephia said, treading her fingers through his hair. It was the oddest thing, seeing the powerful Prince Frederick reduced to needing comfort. A part of her hated it. She didn't like seeing him weak, but a small other part felt terribly gratified that he was willing to seem weak in front of her.

"I didn't expect the word to come out of my mouth," he said, turning to look up at her. "I told her that she could either accept you or lose me," he said.

"Oh, Frederick," Lephia said, leaning over to kiss his forehead. "Are you okay?"

A chuckle escaped his lips. "Of course that would be what you'd ask first," he said softly.

"You've spent the last hour wrapped around me, how could it not be?" she pointed out.

"True," Frederick conceded with a small smile. "Ah Lephia… I knew that she wouldn't be happy about this. I even expected that she wouldn't accept you," he said.

"I know, you told me," Lephia said, still running her fingers through his hair in a soothing manner.

"It's just a whole other thing to know and to experience it," he said. "When I was there I knew the only thing I could do short of telling her everything was to give her an ultimatum," he said. "I just… oh hell, I didn't expect it to be so hard," he told her. "It's one thing to know that you're in charge, it's another to have to be in charge," he said softly.

"You pulled rank on her," Lephia said, trying to decipher what he said. "Which means that you've accepted the responsibility of the head of the Salian family."

"Yes," he said. "It means that I'm now really in charge of everything. Not that I wasn't before, but I'd never accepted it, let my mother run things like she had before. Now I'm really responsible for everything," he said.

"And…" Lephia pushed, trying to get him to say the last bit.

"And I may lose my mother out of this," he said softly. Consciously he knew that if his mother couldn't accept Lephia than she didn't really love him like she needed to love her son, that she loved power and influence more. It was a hard thing to accept that his mother might not really love him, especially since there was the possibility that he'd have to murder his aunt and uncle, who he knew did love him. He was starting to really understand that he could be completely alone.

"I'm sorry Frederick," Lephia said, leaning down and kissing her fiancé's lips. Frederick smiled, well, not completely alone. Lephia was his partner in all of this. He loved her very dearly, and he knew he could count on her to do what was best by him. He only hoped he'd be able to do the same for her.

"Don't be, this is something I needed to deal with anyway," he said. "I need to act like a man," he told her, leaning up and kissing her back. "I love you."

Lephia smiled in a certain shy way that he found very appealing. "I love you too Frederick," she said, returning his kiss. "But now I have a question for you," she said.

"What?" Frederick asked, his eyes fixed on her. For a moment he'd felt terribly alone, especially when he came to accept that he may be much more alone very soon, but it faded with her there, like she filled those parts of him that felt the void.

"Why didn't you tell her about your plans?" Lephia asked.

"Because she'd be too excited, and she wouldn't know how to be discrete," Frederick said. "There are very few people who know my plans, and only one other person besides myself who knows everything," Frederick said. "I don't want any more people to know than have to at this moment, and I don't plan on telling her anything until it's all over," he said.

"Alright, I trust you," Lephia said, kissing the tip of her fiancé's nose to make him smile, which worked just like she planned.

The moment was broken when a knock sounded from the door. "Just a moment," Frederick called, sitting up and finding his shirt. He'd wiggled out of it during the previous hour. Otherwise the two were wrinkled but presentable. "Come in," the prince said once he finished buttoning his shirt. He looked a little surprised, and very wary when his mother stepped inside. "What is it?" he asked.

"I need to speak with Lady Lephia," Lady Gisela said. "Alone," she added.

Frederick looked between his future wife and his mother before standing up. "I think I should check a few accounts," he said as an excuse to leave. He didn't like the idea of leaving his mother and his fiancée alone together, but he knew this was a good sign, at least he hoped it was. He would get himself out of the way for a little while anyway.

Lephia looked to Lady Gisela. She stood, not knowing what else to do. She forgot when she was with Frederick, and when she was with the royal family that she was of a lower nobility, but it was harder to forget with Lady Gisela around. "May I offer you a chair?" she asked, indicating the arm chairs the near the fire place in the room.

"Yes, I think I will take one," the older woman said, finding a seat. "Please, sit with me," she said, indicating the chair across from her. As Lephia gracefully spread her skirts to sit, she noticed that Lady Gisela's hands were clasped around a wrapped something the size of a scroll.

"How may I help you, Lady Gisela," Lephia said, being polite.

"I came to tell you a story, and I'd like for you to listen to me," Lady Gisela said. "I'd like for you to not interrupt until I'm done. Can you do that for me?" she asked.

"Of course," Lephia said, surprised by the simplicity of the request.

Lady Gisela looked over at Lephia for a moment, as if looking to see if she was going to speak again. Then she took a deep breath. "When I was about your age, or a little younger, I met a man from the Salian family, Frederick's father Henry. We'd met before, of course, but before he'd only been the heir to the family, now he was the head of the family. What you must understand is that the Salian family has great luck in many areas: business, land, people. Their family is always prosperous even when the rest of the country is deep in debt. But there is one area where they are terribly unlucky,

"The Salian family is never very big, mostly because they all seem to die so young. People of the bloodline, especially the men… they always have the worst luck. There is a long history of accidents that lead to death. None of them seem related, especially since the Salian family is known for producing strong men and war heroes as well. It's never really mad sense.

"But Henry's mother had died a few years before this story starts. She'd gotten very sick very suddenly and just passed on. His father died only a year later, consumed by grief for his wife. Neither of them were very old. Henry's uncles and aunts had all died. The male cousins had mostly died as well, though the female cousins were generally married off. For the first time since the line started there was only one person with the name Salian, and that was Henry," Lady Gisela said, pausing to take a breath.

"I caught Henry's eye. I was young, and beautiful, and sister to the man who would be king in a few short years. It was a good match, everyone said. I was happy because my children would be heirs to one of the greatest fortunes in our kingdom, and I'd helped my kingdom and my king all in two words, "I do." It was what I'd been raised for. I didn't even mind that Henry seemed cold and distant, because there was a way he would look at me when it was just the two of us. It took me years to figure out what the look was, but by the time I figured it out I was already very in love with my husband," she said.

"It was a very special look, one I've only ever seen in the eyes of one other man, and in that case it was not directed at me. It was the look of a man who was looking at what he believed was the most beautiful man in the world," she said. "The only other person I've ever seen with that particular look in their eyes is my son… and only when looking at you," she said, hearing the soft gasp from the young woman across from her.

"I don't know why he picked you. I don't know what he sees in you, but I know that any futile attempt I might make at separating you two would be useless. I've known it since the first time I saw you," Lady Gisela said, looking down at the item in her hand. "Since the first time I saw him look at you. That's why I'm giving you this," she said, holding out her arm to offer the small parcel to the young woman. "Go on, open it," she said.

She watched Lephia slowly unwrap the item until a fan sat in the young woman's lap. She could see the confusion on the young woman's face, especially since she'd felt the weight of the thing when it had been handed to her. She reached down and picked it up, flicking it open it one fluid motion, revealing brown silk embroidered with green leaves. Her eyes went wide then. "Oh my," she said, unable to think of what to say. Most people in court had heard of Lady Gisela's odd little weapon, the fan that could kill. "I can't. This, this is, I can't!" Lephia said, looking too stunned for words.

"I planned to give it to my son's wife. I planned to do so since I was given the fan," the woman said. "It is yours so long as you plan to be my son' wife," she said. She sounded a little cold.

Lephia looked back down at the fan in her hands. She understood what it meant then. She closed it and looked back up at Frederick's mother. "Thank you Lady Gisela," she said. "I accept your kind gift."

Lady Gisela stood. "Come on, you'll be here for a few more days. I might as well teach you how to use it," she said grudgingly. That made Lephia smile more.

"Of course Lady Gisela," Lephia said, standing and following after her soon to be mother in law.

* * *

Eugene sat in the church. It was Sunday. The service would be getting out soon. This was one of the requirements for being able to marry Rapunzel: that he accepted God and started coming to the service on Sunday. Of course he enjoyed coming because it was time out of work and time when he could sit with Rapunzel. But frankly he didn't like listening to a service in a language he didn't understand, spending an hour basically tethered by tradition to a wooden bench, and spending about half of that time on a poorly padded wooden railing on his knees pretending to pray to someone he didn't believe existed.

He said none of this to anyone. It was practically treasonous to not believe in God. He hadn't even admitted it when he was a thief; of course there were people who didn't believe in God, some of whom were thieves, but most people would be surprised that there were more thieves and prostitutes who strongly believed in their faith than the nobles did. For the nobles it seemed that religion was merely a hobby, like attending balls. King Frederick was very strict in his faith though, as was the Queen. Part of Rapunzel's studies were in religion. The way she talked about what her father had told her Eugene wasn't sure if she was starting to believe it to, or if she just really enjoyed learning that much.

It didn't matter really. It just had to keep his mouth shut and pretend to care about what he was hearing, just like most of the other people in the room. Even still he considered shouting 'Hallelujah' when the final prayer started. The Final prayer was always long. He wasn't sure if it was actually long, or if his eagerness to get out made it seem longer than it was. Either way it didn't matter. All he knew was that as soon as the priest stopped talking people stood and started to file out.

"Did you understand what he was saying?" Rapunzel asked they started to file out.

"It was in latin," Eugene said.

"No, that's not what I meant," Rapunzel said before lapsing into silence. They both did, but Rapunzel stopped moving. People were filing out and would talk in the halls outside the sanctuary. When most everyone had cleared out Rapunzel made her way up the aisle, Eugene tailing behind her.

"What did you mean Rapunzel?" Eugene asked, really wanting to get out of there. It all smelled too much of incense, especially up front, and that really made his nose itch uncomfortably.

"I don't think I understand this all very well," she said. "I have a hard time understanding the idea of an all powerful god also being a human man, and also being a spirit is in people. I really don't understand how all three are also different things," she said. "I don't get why a person can be both cruel enough to force his child, who he claims to really love, to suffer so terribly for other people. I can't understand the idea that if this God is all powerful why bad things happen here to people. I don't understand why he couldn't have kept me from being kidnapped, or you from being abandoned," she said. "I don't understand why my parents had to be hurt, or why Frederick's father had to die, why Lephia's father had to die. If God is good then why do these things happen?" She asked.

"I don't know," Euegene said. "I don't know how to answer that… I'm not sure anyone really does," he said. "Here's what I do know though," he said, slipping his arms around her so she wouldn't get any closer to the front of the sanctuary. "I know that if I hadn't found you I'd be dead right now, and not because of Gothel stabbing me, because I stole the crown, and I'm not as good a thief as I thought I was," he said. "I'd have been hanged by now if I hadn't met you," he said. "Now I could spin you a story about how you had to live with Gothel so that you could save me, but I'm fairly certain that isn't true. In fact I don't believe in that stuff," he said.

"All the things you just asked about… I don't actually believe it's true," he said softly, but it felt like his words reverberated around the empty room.

"You don't?" Rapunzel asked more loudly than h wished she would. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Shhh!" Eugene hissed. "Look… not believing… it's like stealing a crown… it's just not something people do. In fact I could get in a lot of trouble for telling you what I just did," he said. "So don't tell anyone else, okay?" he asked.

"I won't Eugene, I promise," Rapunzel said, clinging to his side like she would protect him if guards were going to suddenly burst out of the stain glass windows and take him away.

Eugene kissed the told of her head. "Thanks Rapunzel," he said, smiling at her warmly. "As for your questions, I can't answer them. But I suggest talking to your father. He studies this stuff, I don't. He can probably help you better than I can," he said, guiding her out toward where the people were.

"Eugene?" Rapunzel asked.

"Yeah?" Eugene asked, looking down at her.

"Thanks for telling me," she said.

Eugene smiled and leaned down, stealing a kiss. "I can trust you," he told her. "More than anyone else," he said, making Rapunzel light up with a smile.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: No, this is not dead, it's just been a long summer. I went to England and back (did a bunch of fics in between for fun) and then I started school almost immediately. Again, I've done some things, but I'm take two creative writing classes, so I have twice the amount of writing. I'm also taking Russian, which is just… well it's Russian and honestly I'm not good at learning languages. I was really bad with English (my first and only real language) when I was a kid. I don't like doing things that I'm not already good at and I had to be forced, coerced, and later tricked into learning English… glad I was, but honestly I'm glad I pushed through now… but yikes!

Also, thanks very much to the website "Catholic Wedding Help" for most of the exchanging of vows. I'm not raised Catholic, but considering the time period the characters were most likely, so I just went with it.

* * *

Eugene fidgeted with his shirt collar. He couldn't get comfortable no matter what he did. He rather wished he could blame it on the high collar on his new shirt being stiff and hot on a spring day, but he knew the material was light and incredibly nice. Even he couldn't lie about that.

So he tried to pass his discomfort off as nerves from all the reports he'd been getting now about disappearing weapons and supplies that weren't getting where they needed to go. None of this was really that odd, it was a large kingdom after all, and stuff got lost. But Old Archimedes was on edge about it, which put Eugene on edge. But truthfully outside of the stuff work room Eugene couldn't be bothered to care about that.

He even wished he could say it came from knowing another man was going to be walking Rapunzel down the aisle, and it was Prince Christian as well. Though that chafed him it was simply part of a wedding ceremony, and Eugene had figured out weeks ago that Rapunzel gushed to Prince Christian the same way she gushed to other female friends. The chatty-nature of the talk he'd walked in on made him feel smug. Prince though he might be, Christian was not someone Rapunzel had romantic interests in.

There was really only one thing left, and that was the wedding itself. Prince Frederick was getting married… and that really pissed Eugene off. The last proposal attempt had been a disaster, though one thing did come out of it: he realized that he did in fact want to marry Rapunzel.

It wasn't like he hadn't known before, per say. Rapunzel, or really a life with Rapunzel was his dream. The fact that it gave him a palace of his own (or it would be his to share once they go married and her parents died) was just a coincidence. He would have been happy even if he had to run from the law all his life so long as he got to be with her. He'd made plans to quietly find a way to stop stealing and get a job… a real job too, not like the stuff he was doing now. Then she'd told him that she was the lost princess and the rest fell into place.

But the point was that he'd killed himself to protect her. He, Flynn Rider nee Eugene Fitzherbert, a man who had literally left his partners for dead in order to have wealth had sacrificed his own life in order to give freedom to one girl. That type of sacrifice wasn't one you made for a person you didn't have a lot of dedication to.

Eugene had wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He imagined that one day he would be sleeping with her and having kids (in wedlock). He knew that he was training to work with spies to be an asset to Rapunzel once she was Queen. He even knew that there was no way he could stay in the relationship if he didn't plan to marry her, and yet somehow it hadn't occurred to him that he actually wanted to marry her.

But when you're making those kinds of realizations in such a crash and burn situation you also realize that you may have completely blown a chance at doing it right. Even if he did ask her again would she remember the last time and turn him down again? Or would she start comparing what he did in their relationship to what happened with her cousin's marriage? Honestly Eugene was certain that a lot of his agitation came from the fact that Prince Frederick was about to be happily married before him, the bastard.

He finished with his collar, glancing at himself in the mirror once more. Man, royals really liked getting dressed up. It wasn't that he didn't like looking attractive, Eugene Fitzherbert was a vein creature by nature, but those royals man… the stuff he was wearing now was possible more expensive than all of the loot he'd stolen (minus the crown) in his entire career.

With that not so cheerful (but much less painful) thought in mind he turned and left his room, heading for the chapel. There would be a large ceremony in the chapel, followed by a very party that all of the city would be attending, not that most of the city wasn't trying to fit into the chapel. The first half of the pews would be filled with the nobility and invited guests. The rest were open to the public, if they could fit in. There are already people lined up to get into the chapel when Eugene arrived to take his own seat, and he'd arrived fairly early. He wondered if the other nobles would realize just how excited the city's people were to attend this wedding.

As an ex-thief Eugene knew that this would be exactly the kind of event that he would love. People would be all pack together, all excited and distracted. Lots of purses were going to be emptied today, and not just to buy all the snacks and memorabilia local shops had made for the event.

He made his way to his seat, it was five rows back. He wasn't insulted. He was not friends with either the bride or the groom. He was invited because he was Rapunzel's date, which meant that the only reason why he wasn't in the tenth row was because of Rapunzel's status as Princess, and as the maid of honor. But Eugene still got their early so he could get an aisle seat on his row. It meant he had to jump up every five seconds to let people in, but he also would have a good view and be able to see Rapunzel when she walked down the aisle. He was on the bride's side so he wouldn't have to crane his neck to see Rapunzel when she walked by.

The wealthy trickled in, but once they were seated the common people were allowed into the back rows and the balcony. People packed in, children sat in their parents laps so there would be room for more people. It felt warm in the chapel as it was. The ceilings were very high, but it was a very sunny spring day, and the stain glass drew in the light and heat, letting none of it out. Let was less warm at the front in the reserved seats where people weren't packed in, but it was warm enough that Eugene knew it must be painfully warm in the back. Yet no one seemed to care that much. After all, how often did you get to see a prince get married?

At some point Prince Frederick came to stand at the front of the altar, and the noise settled down. Suddenly the brand new organ sprung to life, playing the procession with great gusto. As far as royal weddings went this one wasn't very big. The only bridesmaid was Rapunzel, and the only groomsman was Prince Christian. They entered, walking arm-in-arm down the long aisle. Eugene's eyes set on Rapunzel's face fairly quickly. He tried not to smile imagining that she was mentally reciting the number of steps it took to get from one end of the aisle to the other, careful not to misstep and ruin her cousin's wedding. She looked lovely too, in a dress made of the lavender color she seemed to prefer. The Prince's wedding suit was more blue than purple, but then he really was not as royal as Rapunzel.

Next came the ring bearer (Lephia's little brother), followed by the flower girls. At which point the processional changed to something just for the bride. The entire crow stood and they waited, but while the door did open no bride appeared. After a moment people started to murmur, wondering what was happening. That murmur grew when Prince Frederick headed down the aisle, people wondering if he was running away from the wedding.

A few moments later it became clear what was happening. It was traditional for the father of the bride to walk the bride down the aisle, but Lephia had no male relatives. Instead Prince Frederick had gone and gotten her, leading his new bride down the aisle. Even Eugene had to admit (though grudgingly) that this was some how very sweet, though others admitted it louder than others.

* * *

Lephia felt incredibly light headed when she saw Frederick coming down to get her. It was something they'd planned, something she'd like the idea of, but now that it was the time and date it felt scary. Everything felt scary, and yet when she saw Frederick's smiling face something in her relaxed.

There she was, dressed up more beautifully than she probably ever would be in her entire life, in a white dress with a design of spring green lace in a front slice of the dress, and green lace along the edges. Her hair had been down up with little white baby roses in her hair. She looked beautiful, but it didn't feel like her standing there. It felt like someone else, a dream that others had created for their Prince, and she had wondered if maybe she was just a dream, just an act, and if Frederick would catch on later and resent it.

But then she saw the smile on his face. Since the wedding preparations had begun she had seen his smile every often, but it was always a complicated look. He was planning a wedding, and he was planning a rebellion, and he was hurting because of who he'd have to hurt in order to do his duty to his people, and it all weighed heavily on his shoulders. She was so used to that smile, she'd just come to expect it.

But at that moment, when he came through the doors to get her to walk down the aisle the only look on his face was happiness, and the only emotion in his eyes was love. He had set everything aside for that day. So she returned his smile, and set aside her nerves. She offered him her arm and he took it, and together, they walked down the aisle, and how they glowed as they walked.

Rapunzel watched her cousin walk up the aisle with his bride, both smiling and looking more at each other than at anyone else. She wondered if it would be like that for her in Eugene when the time came. His proposal had been such a disaster that a part of her was afraid that he wouldn't ask her again, and she wasn't sure if she'd have the courage to ask him. She hoped he would ask.

She quietly pushed those thoughts aside, smiling at the happy couple. They both looked so lovely that day, especially Lephia. Her mother had taken Lephia aside the previous night. At the time Rapunzel had just assumed it was to give her the gift (and it was partly), but she'd never heard that the husband wasn't supposed to see his bride before the wedding.

"_It's an old tradition_," _her mother said. "It used to be that the bride and groom would not see each other at all before the wedding. They would never meet until the day they were wed."_

"_But how could they be in love if they hadn't met?" Rapunzel asked._

"_They wouldn't be. They would be total strangers, but marriage for love is not an old concept Rapunzel. In the past marriage was often used for business purposes instead," Lephia had explained. She was so happy to change topics from the lacy undergarments she'd received from the Queen. _

"_That sounds horrible," Rapunzel said. "What if they hated each other?" _

"_It happened sometimes, but truthfully most couples learned to work it out. There's a companionship that comes with being stuck with someone. Sometimes it blossoms into love, and not always. There's a reason why arranged marriages are waning in popularity. Just like there's a reason why they were so popular for such a long time," the Queen said._

Rapunzel was pulled out of her thoughts as the priest started the mass, speaking in his very clear concise Latin, not that Rapunzel knew the language (yet), but she was picking it up faster because her father liked to speak in it sometimes, and she wanted to know what he was saying. She knew this time it was about marriage, and about a husband's duty to his wife and a wife's duty to her husband. She knew the scripture too, because her father had said it in Latin before translating it for her. It sounded nice now, as it had then.

The mass ended, and the priest fixed his eyes on the couple standing before him. It was only then that Rapunzel realized he had been looking at the congregation instead of Prince Frederick and Lephia.

"Frederick and Lephia," the priest asked. "Have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage?"

"I have," Prince Frederick said.

"I have," Lephia said.

"Will you honor each other as man and wife for the rest of your lives?"

"I will," Prince Frederick said.

"I will," Lephia said.

"Will you accept children lovingly from God, and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?"

Rapunzel, standing so close, noticed the quiet, secret little smile the couple shared.

"I will," Prince Frederick said.

"I will," Lephia said.

The priest smiled. "Since it is your intention to enter into marriage, join your right hands, and declare your consent before God and his Church."

Lephia's brother offered the couple the rings, each taking to one for their partner. Prince Frederick took Lephia's hand, slipping her ring on her finger. "I, Frederick, take you, Lephia, to be my wife. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life." He spoke clear, but gentle, and only to her was he blinked rapidly to try and clear unbidden tears from his eyes.

Lephia slipped his ring onto his finger before reaching up and wiping away his tears with her gloved hand. "I, Lephia, take you, Frederick, to be my husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life."

"By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife," the priest said, and Lephia gasped, tears coming to her eyes now as she covered her mouth. It was as if she had not truly realized what she was doing until now. "You may now kiss your wife," the priest said, with a tiny bit of mischief in his eyes.

Rapunzel had to laugh, as did the entire congregation. Lephia threw herself on Prince Frederick, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him with more passion than either of them had ever shown publically. When they pulled apart they were flushed and breathless, but so happy.

The organ music roared with bride's processional as the couple headed out of the sanctuary, with eyes only for each other.

The party after the wedding was loud and raucous, and Eugene was very, very thankful that he was not a guard on duty. Crime in the town had nearly disappeared over night because of Maximus's influence, but this event was different. Everyone was drunk, and a lot of people had come in from outside the town, and they were very quickly taught how Corona's guard handled criminals. This meant that there were more than a few heavy twangs of frying-pan hitting skull during the party after the wedding.

* * *

Eugene had gotten very drunk (he only really drank during parties, but when big festivals showed up he really, really drank) at the weeklong event to celebrate Rapunzel's return. Now he was mildly drunk, and as such he had no idea how he'd ended up in a dance with the bride. "You happy to be married?" he asked his slow dance partner, glancing over to where Rapunzel was dancing with Frederick.

"Very," Lephia said. She and Rapunzel's beau had never even exchanged three words before.

"I can't imagine why," Eugene muttered.

"I love my husband," Lephia said.

"He's slimey. I know he's planning something," Eugene said. "You should be careful too, cause if he gets caught doing something then you could go down for it to."

"Excuse me? Go down for it?"

"Yeah, you know. I read the laws for the first time recently. If the head of the family does something, then the laws still say that the whole family can be punished for it," Eugene said.

"Those are very old laws," Lephia said.

"But they still exist." Eugene said. "Which is why you should be careful," he said.

"Those laws are only for people who commit treason. Are you accusing my husband of treason?"

"I don't know what I'm accusing him of, but I know he's guilty," Eugene said.

"And I know that you're very drunk," Lephia said.

"No, I'm only mildly drunk, mildly. If I was really drunk I'd be doing something very stupid right now," Eugene said.

"I wouldn't call this conversation intelligent," Lephia said, glad the song was ending.

"But I would," Eugene said.

"Then I feel sorry for my new cousin," Lephia muttered, pulling away from her dance partner to return to her husband.

"Eugene, are you drunk?" Rapunzel asked, going to Eugene and preparing to lead him back into dance.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry, but could I cut in?" Prince Christian asked.

"Oh well, I guess, if Eugene doesn't mind," Rapunzel said.

"Oh no, you don't understand Princess, I want to dance with your date," Prince Christian said, bowing and smiling mischievously.

"What?" Eugene asked.

"Come on, it'll be a laugh riot," the prince said, grabbing his hand and leading him out onto the dance floor. "Come on, it's a floor hopper, it's not like I asked you to slow dance."

"Aren't they going to call us queer for this?" Eugene asked.

"Yeah, but that's just a great way to get into some unsuspecting girl's undergarments, isn't it?" the prince asked.

Eugene burst into laughter. "Alright, you wild man. Sweep me off my feet!" He declared, deciding to go along with the joke.

Prince Christian laughed and led him in the dance. It was a floor hopper, but something like a tango as well, the combination of which was a very wild show with the prince swinging the ex-thief around the dance floor while Eugene made over dramatic faces at the crowd. They pranced around the dance floor before Prince Christian spun Eugene and dipped him. Eugene responded by throwing one leg up in their air like a can-can dancer as he was dipper. Then they went back to prancing.

Prince Christian did eventually sweep Eugene off his feet, holding him bridal style off the ground. "Citizens, I have found the most lucky maiden in the world for my new bride!" he shouted. The crowd roared. Eugene started fanning himself, fluttering his very long eyelashes, and blowing kisses to the crowd.

"Eugene!" Rapunzel said, laughing as she came out to greet the pair.

"Uh-oh, looks like I just found a prettier lady," Prince Christian said, dumping Eugene and stepping over the spluttering man and bowing to Rapunzel. "May I have this dance?"

"Hey, now that's hardly fair. You seduce me and then run off with another girl?" Eugene asked, getting up and dusting himself off.

"Then how about a three-way dance?" Prince Christian asked. He looked down at Rapunzel. "Have you been in a three way dance before?"

"No," she said.

"Well, then you can be in the middle, that's the easiest part, and I don't even have to explain it to you," the Prince said. "So, Fitzherbert, want to be the left?" He asked, stepping onto Rapunzel's right and putting his arm around her waist.

"Only if I can dance with Rapunzel alone when we're done," Eugene said, stepping to Rapunzel's left and putting his arm around her waist as well. And so the dance started. Rapunzel was little more than a fulcrum or maypole that the two men fought over dramatically in dance. But Eugene finally won and was able to take Rapunzel away to a slower dance. The crowd had loved the performance, and so had Rapunzel, whose face was flushed from the dance and laughing so hard.

"It's magic tonight, it's it?" Rapunzel asked as she walked with Eugene back up to the castle.

"Yes, a night of new lovers," Eugene said, repeating something he'd read once in a book. "So, how about we go back to your room and drink some tea and tuck in with a book?"

"Sounds perfect," Rapunzel said.

* * *

When the newly wed couple was finally able to break away and return to the Prince's chambers they were relieved. Of course the first thing Frederick did was start to unlace Lephia's gown.

"Put it off for a while," Frederick said.

"But he suspects you," Lephia said.

"It only means he's not a complete fool, but just let it alone," Frederick said.

"But Frederick, what if he acts on it?" she asked.

"He won't tonight," Frederick said. "So don't worry."

"But he's really worried if he said something to me now. He'll probably say something soon," she said.

"He won't," Frederick said.

"Is it ready then?" she asked.

Frederick sighed heavily. "I wanted to put this off till tomorrow," he said, turning her around so he could see her. He stopped trying to untie her dress, but now he started carefully plucking the flowers from her hair. "It will happen within the week."

"So Eugene Fitzherbert's going to die?" she asked.

"It's our best option… and I don't want to go with the summer plan, not if I can help it," Frederick said. He leaned down and kissed his wife's eyelids, letting the little roses in his hands drop to the floor. "So, forget it tonight. Tonight and tomorrow are ours just for us. After that I'll tell you everything, but for now… just let me be a normal married man for a few hours," he said.

Lephia smiled, guiding her new husband's hands to the right strings to pull to get the dress off. "Alright," she said. "I even wore something special for you," she said with a feisty grin.

"I can't wait," Frederick purred. It turned out that he really did like the Queen's special gift, though he would never know where his darling wife had gotten such an outfit.


End file.
